


Babysitting

by Kotana



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 17:25:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1866192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kotana/pseuds/Kotana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A two year old girl is found at a crime scene where both her parents have been murdered. With no other living relatives, Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham are left to take care of her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“You want me to do _what_?” Will asked, his voice on the border of anger and irritation as he paced around Jack Crawford’s office.

“I told you already,” Jack replied in a monotonous voice. “We need you to help take care of a little girl for a while. Now if you’d settle down and stop complaining, I’d be happy to further explain.”

Will took a deep breath before sitting down in one of the large chairs facing the desk. He looked at Jack’s chin, silently urging him to continue while also avoiding eye contact.

“A two year old girl was found at a crime scene where both the parents had been expertly murdered. We ran an ID check and we can’t find any living relatives of the girl, so I need you to look after her until we find the killer that did this,” Jack stated.

Will squinted and adjusted his glasses. “Why can’t you just put her in a foster home or something?”

“We did,” Jack explained. “We placed her into a home for children, and we are led to believe the same killer came back to take her. The staff reported that someone broke in and was trying to steal the girl. When they attempted to stop him, he fought back viciously. He showed no interest for any of the other children and none of them were harmed. Three staff members, however, were rushed to the ER because of near-fatal wounds that the intruder inflicted on them.”

Will shifted in his seat and unconsciously tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Still, why do I have to take her?”

Jack leaned forward on his desk. “She needs a safe place to stay where we can keep an eye on her,” he said.

“Yes I understand that, but why _me_?”

Jack sighed. “Who do you think would have been a better choice?”

Will met his gaze for a moment before darting away again. “I don’t know, anyone else in the world? You, Alana Bloom, Beverly Katz, Jimmy Price, Brian Zeller, Dr. Lecter, whoever’s on the police force?”

Jack was quick to shoot down Will’s suggestions. “I have to be here and on the field all day, every day. Alana used to be the murdered husband’s psychiatrist many years back so she’s helping out on the case, and if this goes to court then we can’t have her opinion be biased because of any attachments she’s grown to the child. Katz, Price, and Zeller all have to be here doing their job, and they can’t take the girl to work with them, especially not in forensics. I can’t send her to someone on the force because I want her to be with someone close to me, someone I can trust. And Dr. Lecter, well, we’ve already worked out that he’ll be helping you.”

“What?!” Will asked, looking up.

“Dr. Lecter works most of the day as well, so he can’t take care of her full-time. He can’t take her to work either because he could have violent patients. However when he is not working, I expect him to be with you, helping to care for the little girl,” Jack explained.

“Why?” Will wasn’t necessarily opposed to having help, but he wasn’t sure why Jack didn’t trust him to be alone with one small child.

“I assumed you could use an extra hand,” Jack said simply. “And having Dr. Lecter there to keep you mentally stable is an added comfort.”

Will probed his mind for an acceptable excuse to get out of this. “What if I lose time or I forget to feed her or change her or something? What if I hurt her?” He asked.

“Again, that’s why Dr. Lecter will be with you whenever possible. Plus, we’ve all seen how well you take care of your dogs, so I know you can do this,” Jack insisted.

Will sighed in disappointment. “Fine,” he muttered quietly.

“Good,” Jack smiled. “Tomorrow is Sunday, so Dr. Lecter can be with you all day. He will help to get things under control so you will be ready on your own for Monday.”

Will nodded, removing his glassing and rubbing at his eyes. He realized he needed to get some sleep; tomorrow’s going to be rough.  
oOo  
Hannibal eyed the child suspiciously as Jack brought it over. It smelled of cheap diapers, but he forced a smile on his face as it was handed to him. He wasn’t quite sure how he was supposed to hold it, but he managed to sit it on his left arm while his right hand held onto its back to keep it from falling.

“The name on her birth certificate says Talia Noelle Miller and she just turned two a couple weeks ago,” Jack stated.

Hannibal looked at the little girl. She had fair skin, aqua blue eyes and thin blonde hair that was slightly wavy and hung down to the center of her back. She wore a plain pink dress and didn’t have any shoes.

“Well hello Talia,” he said quietly as he smiled at her.

She started to smile back, and then she shoved two fingers in her mouth and turned to rest her head on his shoulder. Hannibal couldn’t help but grimace when she removed her fingers and placed the same sticky hand on his expensive suit. Jack laughed, but Hannibal didn’t see what was so amusing.

“She hasn’t talked very much since we found her, but I suppose two year olds don’t generally say a lot to begin with. She might open up once she gets used to you,” Jack mentioned. “We also gathered up most of her clothes and toys from the house, I can help you load some of it into your car. And here,” he handed a piece of paper to Hannibal, “is a list of her allergies, naptimes, and preferred meals. Luckily, the parents had left this note for their babysitter on the fridge.”

Hannibal took the paper in his right hand while continuing to hold the child in his left. He skimmed across it vaguely, before tucking it into his suit pocket. He then held out his hand to Jack.

“Thank you, I should go to Will’s now. She’s probably tired,” Hannibal said.

“Yes, of course,” Jack agreed, meeting his hand. “You’ll have to put up the collapsible crib once you’re there, however. I have the girl’s car seat as well, so make sure she’s safe.”

Hannibal nodded and released Jack’s hand as he turned to walk back out to the parking lot. He heard a sucking noise come from the girl and immediately afterwards he felt a slimy hand grasp the back of his neck. He cringed, wondering why he ever agreed to this anyway. He’d only done it so he could watch how Will Graham reacted to responsibility, and he was curious what would happen. However, he now realized the huge hole he had dug himself into with this child.


	2. Chapter 2

Hannibal stood on Will’s porch, waiting for his informal patient to answer the door. Talia was asleep with her head resting on his shoulder while he held her awkwardly in his arms.

“Hello Dr. Lecter,” Will greeted as he opened the door.

Hannibal beckoned towards the sleeping girl and put a finger to his lips. Will nodded in understanding, stepping to the side to let Hannibal in the house. However, to his despair, he immediately heard the sound of nails on the wooden floor as seven dogs rushed forward while barking loudly. Hannibal looked desperately to Will when Talia woke up with a start and began to cry loudly, kicking her feet up to get away from the dogs.

“Sorry!” Will apologized, trying to herd the animals away from his guests. Hannibal watched in silence as Will managed to shove all the dogs out of the room and behind another closed door. His ears were ringing from Talia’s cries and he had no idea how he was supposed to quiet her down.

Will rushed back into the living room, brushing his messy curls out of his eyes. Hannibal saw his opportunity and instantly tried to hand off the screaming girl to him.

“What? I don’t want her,” Will yelled over the cries.

“ _I_ certainly didn’t cause her to cry,” Hannibal replied, still holding the child out to Will.

“Well what am I supposed to do about it?” Will asked, cautiously reaching out to the little girl.

Hannibal pushed her into Will’s arms and backed away. “Calm her down.”

“How?”

Hannibal didn’t answer. He wasn’t positive how to stop her from crying either. He stepped back up to her and carefully rested his hand on her back. He circled her back slowly and she seemed to quiet down. Before long, she was done screaming, she dried her eyes on Will’s shirt and she sniffled.

“How did you know that would work?” Will asked.

Hannibal half-smiled in content. “I didn’t.”

Will gave a weak smile in reply. “Well now what are we supposed to do with her?”

“You act as if this is a chore,” Hannibal thought aloud. “Many people would enjoy the company of a child in their life, whereas you act as if it’s merely your job to watch her. You do not want to connect with her.”

Will shrugged. “It’s my job to watch her. It’s nothing more. I didn’t necessarily want to do this,” he admitted.

Honestly, Hannibal agreed. He didn’t want to take care of the child any more than Will did. However, instead of stressing over something he could not change, he decided to try to see the light in the situation, and he wanted Will to see it too.

“Well as long as she is here, you may as well try to enjoy her presence,” Hannibal stated. “Her name is Talia, in case you were not informed.”

Will looked down at her. “Hi Talia,” he said quietly before looking back up at Hannibal. “And so I repeat, what are we supposed to do now?”

Hannibal stopped to think for a moment. “Perhaps she’s hungry?”

oOo

Will glanced around his kitchen and sighed. He wasn’t necessarily the neatest person in the world, but never before had it ever looked this messy. He had insisted that since it was his house, he would be the one to make something for Talia. However, offering to cook instead of leaving it to Dr. Lecter was probably his biggest mistake. Not only did he completely cover every surface of the kitchen in food, he still couldn’t make anything that the child would actually eat. It didn’t help that he had very little food in his house to begin with, and he doubted the girl would eat fish or dog food. He’d managed to find quite a few jars of things that he considered to be edible, yet most of it ended up thrown on the floor.

Will decided to admit defeat as he picked up Talia and brought her into the living room where Dr. Lecter was waiting.

“Maybe we should go to your house,” Will mentioned quietly.

Dr. Lecter smiled. “I agree.”

The car ride was only an hour long but it seemed like an eternity. Talia didn’t sleep like Will had hoped. She was still hungry; she kept whining and kicking the seat in front of her. To his surprise, she still didn’t say any words, just cries and whimpers. He thought that most two year olds would’ve spoken by now. Then again, he’d never had any previous experience with kids whatsoever.

“Will, could you get the high chair? I believe it’s in the trunk along with the folded up crib. Maybe if she feels comfortable then she’d be more apt to eat,” Dr. Lecter explained as he pulled up into the driveway of his house. Dr. Lecter then got out, unbuckled Talia from her car seat and carried her inside.

Will nodded and went to the back of the car, opening the trunk. He managed to carry the tall chair through the doorway, only scratching up a few of the walls. He finally set it down in the kitchen and saw that Dr. Lecter had already taken leftovers from his fridge and rewarmed them. Will lifted Talia into the chair and sat down on the counter beside her to watch.

Dr. Lecter walked over with the dish and placed it on the tray of the high chair. Will relaxed when he saw the girl reach and take a handful of meat and rice, only to stiffen up again as he watched her launch the food across the kitchen.

Will immediately stood up to help, but he wasn’t sure what to say or do. To be honest, he actually found it to be somewhat amusing to see Dr. Lecter so surprised.

“I think she’s the only person on the planet to dislike your cooking,” Will remarked. He’d meant it to be a joke, but the doctor just frowned and glared in Will’s direction.

Dr. Lecter then walked briskly over to the fridge again, removing a package of meat and some vegetables. Will watched as the man poured the ingredients into a frying pan and began sautéing over the stove. Observing Dr. Lecter cook was like seeing a performance, seeing the flames and the fancy maneuvers. Will was in awe, and he didn’t know how long he had been staring before Dr. Lecter turned the stove off and poured the meal into a glass bowl. The entire kitchen smelled amazing, and Will envied Talia.

Dr. Lecter let the meat cool for a few minutes before placing the dish in front of Talia. Without even looking at it, the girl swung her arm out and sent the bowl flying. The glass shattered on the tile floor in front of the chair and Will felt truly saddened by the waste of a perfect meal. Now Dr. Lecter looked mad. Will knew the man was always very good at hiding his emotions, but now it was very clear that he was pissed. _I’ve never seen him like this before_ , Will thought to himself. _And it’s all because of a picky two year old._

“Don’t take it personally,” Will told Dr. Lecter. However, the man still looked devastated. He almost seemed ashamed, but he still refused to give up.

They continued until Dr. Lecter’s kitchen looked just as trashed as Will’s. After the ninth attempt, Dr. Lecter sat down in defeat. Even his dress shirt and apron were splattered with unrecognizable pieces of food. Will thought the sight was a little sad, so he decided he’d better give it another shot on his own. He tried to think back to the foods he’d personally enjoyed as a child, realizing that maybe simplicity was better.

“Do you have any peanut butter?” He asked, walking over to the pantry.

“What?” Dr. Lecter asked, his voice doubtful.

“Peanut butter,” Will repeated. He opened the doors only to see multiple spices stacked up on every shelf.

“Check the bottom shelf in the back,” Dr. Lecter replied.

Will nodded and crouched down. To his surprise, he actually found a small jar of name brand peanut butter hidden behind everything else. “Where’d you get this?” He mocked.

Dr. Lecter just sighed. “It was a gift. A joke, more or less.”

Will shrugged it off and put the container on the counter before moving to the refrigerator. His eyes scanned the shelves before resting on what he was looking for. He held up the jar to Dr. Lecter.

“What’s this?”

The doctor squinted at the jar. “Homemade strawberry jelly,” he stated.

Will stifled a laugh. “You make your own jelly?”

Dr. Lecter acted as if it were completely normal. “Don’t you?”

Will turned away towards the counter and took two slices of bread from the breadbox. He opened multiple drawers before finally finding a buttering knife. He struggled with the jars for a while before popping them open and spreading their contents on each piece of bread. He squished the slices together and brought the sandwich over to Talia.

Surprisingly, she didn’t immediately throw it. Instead, she cautiously took a bite before smiling up at Will. Will smiled back in content and leaned up against the counter next to Dr. Lecter. The man looked deeply offended, but relieved nonetheless. They watched together as the girl finished half the sandwich before reaching out an open hand to them. Will looked at Dr. Lecter, who stared back equally confused. Will beckoned for Dr. Lecter to go first.

The doctor narrowed his eyes in reply, but still walked over to Talia. He crouched down to be at eye-level with her and she retracted her hand. She pulled the two pieces of bread apart and, before either of the two men could react, shoved one slice at Dr. Lecter’s face.

The peanut butter and jelly mix stuck to his cheek along with the bread, causing Talia to rupture with laughter for the first time since she’d been with them. Will tried to be silent, unaware of how the classy psychiatrist would react, but he couldn’t help but laugh along with the little girl.

Dr. Lecter just turned around silently and walked over to the trash, pulling the bread off and throwing it away.

“Oh lighten up,” Will remarked. The man was always so composed, he never had any fun. Will couldn’t ever remember a time where he’d seen the doctor smile out of enjoyment, not just the fake half-smiles that he gives to reassure his patients.

Dr. Lecter spun around to face Will and stepped forward, invading his personal space. Will could smell expensive cologne and tweed.

“I simply do not see what is so amusing about a mess,” Dr. Lecter stated.

Will fought back the urge to laugh again. It was hard to take the man seriously when he still had peanut butter spread across one side of his face. Apparently Dr. Lecter noticed this, because he narrowed his eyes at Will and a small smile spread across his lips. Without another word, the doctor reached up and wiped at the peanut butter and jelly mix off with his hand. His smile grew slightly larger as he then smeared his hand over Will’s face.

Will was taken aback, completely unprepared for the psychiatrist’s childish actions. He felt the sticky peanut butter collect in his eyebrow, across his cheek, and into his stubble. He heard Talia cackling in her high chair, and Dr. Lecter was still smirking like an idiot.

“There. Now we’re even,” Dr. Lecter concluded. Will couldn’t help but smile back. He nodded and casually strode over to Talia. Quickly, he picked up the other slice of bread and launched it in Dr. Lecter’s direction. The doctor gasped when the bread stuck to his shoulder. He glared at Will, but instead of yelling, he scooped up some vegetables that Talia had pushed off her tray earlier and he flung them back at Will. Most of the pieces just hit Will’s shirt and dropped down, but one bean hit him square in the forehead.

Will peered back at Dr. Lecter before slowly bending down and grabbing a handful of mashed potatoes that the doctor had made for Talia along with a braised meat. Will immediately jumped back up, chucked the blob at Dr. Lecter before ducking behind the counter. When he only heard silence in reply, he dared to look over the top. He saw that Dr. Lecter also had gathered a large portion of scraps and was ready to throw, however he paused and looked over at Will.

“Do you smell something particularly unpleasant?” The doctor asked.

Will scented the air, but there were few strong essences besides the fading smells of Dr. Lecter’s cooking. However, he thought he detected something slightly strange as well. It smelled like something one of his dogs would produce whenever he let them outside. He slowly stood up and crept closer to Talia, who now had stopped laughing and stared curiously back at Will. Once he was right next to the high chair, he realized the horrible scent was coming from the little girl.


	3. Chapter 3

“You do it.”

Hannibal looked up from the girl to Will. “What?”

Will pulled the collar of his shirt over his nose and approached Hannibal. “You do it. Change her or clean her or whatever you’re supposed to do,” he repeated.

Hannibal clenched his jaw and cocked his head slightly to one side. “Why me?” He had never ‘changed’ a child before and he’d like to keep it that way. Most importantly, he refused to let his patient tell him what to do.

Will was persistent. “Because I fed her, so you should deal with the aftermath,” he stated.

 _Rude_ , Hannibal thought. It was painful enough watching the girl turn down every one of his perfectly executed meals, so he certainly was in no mood to attempt to change her filthy diaper.

“She is your responsibility,” Hannibal argued. “I was simply asked to help.”

“So _help_.”

Hannibal narrowed his eyes at Will and began to silently weigh his options. He could win this argument. He could easily manipulate the other man into doing the dirty work. However, was it worth risking their relationship seeing as how far they had come already? After all, how hard could it possibly be to change one small diaper?

“Fine,” Hannibal sighed. “I will do it this one time, then it is all on you.” He pulled the girl out of her high chair and held her out as far as his arms could reach. He despised his keen sense of smell at this moment. He walked quickly into the bathroom and looked around for a place to put her. _Do I really want her on my clean counters?_ Hannibal thought. He began to move her to the ground before realizing the tiled floor is equally as clean as his counters. In fact, he considered his entire house to be quite clean at the moment, except the kitchen of course, but there was no way he would ever change a diaper in the same room where he cooks.

“Would you like to go back to your house?” Hannibal called out to Will hopefully.

“What? No,” Will yelled back in reply.

Hannibal frowned and carried the girl out of the bathroom, still holding her out away from his body. He could see her becoming visibly more upset, the way her eyes got wetter and her lower lip quivered. He realized he had to hurry.

He rushed her over towards his front door and set her on the welcome mat. If there was ever a speck of dirt in Hannibal’s house, this is where it would be. He then rummaged through the unpacked boxes of supplies near the door and found a diaper and some wet wipes. He had just pulled open the tabs on either side of her diaper before rushing back into the kitchen to Will.

“I need your help,” he said at last. He must’ve looked like a mess with his food-splattered clothes and disheveled hair because he saw Will’s glare soften.

“Why? It’s one little girl, you’re a full grown man,” Will stated.

Hannibal visibly grimaced. “Not even the foulest creature that God would ever create could produce something as revolting as what was in that little girl’s diaper,” he explained.

Will gave a short, abrupt laugh. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit?” He mocked.

Hannibal narrowed his eyes. “Why don’t you go check on her? You will then see what I mean,” he instructed.

“Fine. In case you’ve forgotten, I have seven dogs. I doubt this will faze me,” Will mentioned, walking out of the kitchen.

Hannibal just nodded. His point would be proven in a matter of minutes.

“Where is she?” Will called out, presumably from the restroom.

Hannibal paused a moment, slightly regretting his idea to place Talia on the welcome mat. “…By the front door,” he replied.

Hannibal heard footsteps traveling throughout his house.

“Why would you put her-” Will’s voice cut off and Hannibal heard heavy stomps. Will ran into the kitchen and leaned up against the counter, resting his face in his hands. He was silent a moment, before looking back up at Hannibal in despair. “My dogs have never done that.”

Hannibal nodded in understanding. “How should we approach this? We cannot leave her like that, and if we wait too long then she’ll get up on her own and walk away. She is young, but not immobile,” he mentioned.

Will just shrugged. Hannibal sighed and walked to his bathroom, locating his first aid kit. It was larger than most people’s, seeing as though he was previously employed as a surgeon before turning to psychiatry. He pulled out two surgical masks and four gloves, and he brought them back into the kitchen.

“Here,” he said, handing half of the supplies to Will.

“Thanks,” Will replied with a smile.

Hannibal strapped the thin mask over his mouth and nose. He then stretched the rubber gloves over his hands and turned to Will.

“Ready?” He asked, taking a final breath of fresh air.

Will nodded. “Let’s go.”

oOo  
The surgical mask didn’t work. That, Will knew for sure. As they approached the girl on the welcome mat, the horrible odor slipped right past the thin fabric and into Will’s respiratory system. He looked over to Dr. Lecter for help, but the man clearly wasn’t having any better luck. Will fought the urge to retreat.

Talia was sniffling now, close to tears. Will knew they had to hurry before she would start a full-blown screaming tantrum. However, the closer he got, the more he wanted to throw up. The sight wasn’t pretty either, and it burned his eyes. Will was close to tears himself, and if he inhaled any more of the putrid scent he felt like he would pass out. He turned to Dr. Lecter.

“Let me see your apron,” he stated, holding out his hand. He doubted it would help, but he wanted as much protection from the smell as he could get.

“Hm?” Dr. Lecter raised an eyebrow.

Will couldn’t tell if the man was asking why, or if he simply hadn’t heard Will’s muffled question through the mask. Will averted his gaze before rolling his eyes. He leaned towards Dr. Lecter, trying to reach him without his own personal space being broken. He hooked one finger around the kitchen apron tied around Dr. Lecter’s waist and pulled it until it untied in the back. He then wrapped it tightly around his own nose and mouth, enjoying the smell of laundry and cologne. He made sure to avoid the food splatters as he knotted it around his head.

The corners of Dr. Lecter’s eyes crinkled in slight amusement. Will watched as the man then crouched down in front of the girl, turning his head away. Will darted over to the boxes by the door and tossed a pouch of wet wipes at the doctor before running back to a safe distance away.

Will watched as Dr. Lecter suffered. After every wipe the man would turn back and look desperately to Will for help, but Will pretended not to notice.

“Do you have another diaper with you, Will?” Dr. Lecter called out.

Will looked around before spotting the folded up cloth. “Yeah, it’s here,” he replied, tossing the diaper over to Dr. Lecter.

“Thank you. Now can you take this?”

Before Will could react, a white wad was tossed backwards at him. Out of instinct, his hands reached out to catch the flying object, only to immediately retract when he identified it. Will jumped backwards as the soiled diaper fell to the ground.

Will was still glaring at it with disgust when he noticed Dr. Lecter had walked over to him, a fully dressed and happy Talia in his arms. She had her head resting on his shoulder, her hand in her mouth, and her eyes closed.

“It’s been a long day,” Dr. Lecter commented.

Will nodded nonchalantly, still slightly angry with the psychiatrist for launching the diaper at him.

“Perhaps we should put her to bed and get some rest of our own. Are you alright with that?” Dr. Lecter asked.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Will replied. His eyelids were heavy and he was exhausted. Sleep sounded great, but it would have to take a miracle for him to actually be able to sleep through the night.

“I expect your help in putting Talia to bed,” Dr. Lecter stated, beginning to walk upstairs.

Will huffed, but didn’t argue. The girl was already half asleep in the doctor’s arms, how hard could it possibly be to throw her in a crib and call it a night? He dragged his feet on the floor and made his way upstairs. His nightmares, sleepwalking, and hallucinations never even crossed his mind as he cleaned up and got into his bed. Perhaps if they had, he could’ve taken the necessary precautions to prevent them from happening. At least, if he would have remembered them, he could’ve better protected Talia.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a picture of the outside of Hannibal's house, I thought it might help with visualizing this chapter:
> 
> http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130608125455/hannibal/images/2/2f/Lecter's_house.jpg

Will woke up with Talia in his arms and to the sound of Dr. Lecter whispering his name. No, no he wasn’t whispering. It sounded more like a call, almost a yell, yet Will could barely hear it over Talia’s crying. Why was the girl in tears, and even more unbelievable, why did the composed Dr. Lecter seem to be shouting his name so desperately? His curiosity was stronger than his need to go back to sleep, so he opened his eyes.

He saw the beautiful scenery of housetops, trees, and the sun rising above the horizon. Will, upon realizing that he was nowhere near the bed he’d fallen asleep in, was terrified. He stumbled backwards and his feet slipped on the roofing of Dr. Lecter’s house. He’d woken up on his own roof before, but at his house, all he had to do was climb out the upstairs window. He had no idea how he’d gotten on top of the slanted perch of the three-story building.

Talia screamed louder as Will tried to regain his footing.

“Will!”

Will peered over the edge and saw Dr. Lecter, who was still in his silk pajamas and robe, waving up at him. “I-I don’t know how I got here,” he stuttered out in reply.

“Do you see a way back down?” Dr. Lecter called up at Will.

Will kept one arm tightly around Talia while using the other to steady himself of the tilted roof. He scanned his surroundings and found that there was only a window below him with a sill much too thin to support him. _How the hell did I get up here?_ He thought.

“I don’t think there is one,” he yelled back.

The doctor paced around on the lawn for a few moments before looking back up at him. “Just hold on, I will get you. Be careful with the girl,” he instructed as he ran into his house.

Will was shaking as he waited. Talia was beginning to calm down but she was far from done screaming. After what felt like an eternity, he saw Dr. Lecter’s head appear from the center third story window.

“Hand me the girl,” Dr. Lecter said, outstretching his arms towards Will.

Will started to inch down the roof to get close enough to Dr. Lecter, but he began to slide down the ramp. The tiles on the roof scratched at his back through his thin t-shirt as he scrambled with his one free hand to get a grip on the surface. He was almost positive he was going to slip right off and fall three stories to his death, that is, until his feet hit something solid and stopped his slide.

He looked down and saw that Dr. Lecter was right below him. The man was far from steady, being completely out of the window and barely balancing on the thin ledge. He had one solid foot on the windowsill while the rest of him was laying diagonally on the tilt of the roof with his shoulders preventing Will from sliding any further.

“Walk… down,” Dr. Lecter spoke through his teeth. The man had a firm grasp on the roof while his feet shuffled to get a better hold on the ledge.

“What?” Will asked, confused.

“Walk across my back,” Dr. Lecter instructed. His face was beginning to turn red from exerting so much energy and strength in order to remain in place.

“I can’t do that, I’ll break your back,” Will objected. He tried to shift back upwards to take some weight off Dr. Lecter but it only resulted in him sinking further.

“Put Talia on your shoulders and have her hold on tightly. Push up against the roof with your hands as you walk so your full force is not concentrated on my spine alone. It is a short distance, I will be fine. Go,” Dr. Lecter ordered.

Will considered it a moment, realizing the doctor was right. The man’s upper body was leaning on the roof while his feet were on the windowsill, so Will would only have to be walking two or three feet on only Dr. Lecter’s support. Will took a deep breath and tried to sit up on the roof without sliding. He lifted Talia up and sat her on his shoulders.

“Don’t let go, no matter what,” he told her. She looked back blankly, but wrapped her arms around his neck.

Will kept his hands on the peak of the roof as he stood up fully and began to step on Dr. Lecter’s back. It seemed stable enough and it wasn’t nearly as slippery as the bare rooftop. He felt the man beneath him tense up with every step and Will immediately regretted agreeing to use his psychiatrist as a bridge. Talia was whimpering in fear and her small hands were pulling at Will’s hair.

At last he made it to the window. He crouched down and slid inside, pulling the girl from his back and sitting her on the steady floor. He immediately turned back around to help Dr. Lecter.

“Give me your hand, I’ll try and pull you back inside,” He called out to him. Dr. Lecter was visibly straining to stay up. The man turned his head as much as possible and held out a shaky arm. Will leaned out of the window, grasped his hand tightly, and pulled.

Bad idea. Will realized too late he should’ve thought it through. All he succeeded in doing was pulling Dr. Lecter’s upper torso backwards off the roof, which at the time was the only real support he had. The man’s feet slipped at the sudden change of weight, and Will found himself leaning more than halfway out the window with his hold on Dr. Lecter being the only thing keeping the man from falling.

Will also was not a considerably strong man. His sweaty nervous hands could not maintain their hold, and he watched as his psychiatrist dropped.

oOo

Hannibal landed on his back with an unpleasant thud that knocked the breath out of him. His back crashed onto an uncomfortable edge and his head slammed down on shingles. He turned his head to see that he’d landed on the overhang above his front porch that was held up by four columns. It too, though it came to a less abrupt point than the upper roof, was slanted. He was sliding slower than he imagined, so he had enough time to painfully turn his body towards the house and reach out to grab the second story middle windowsill. It took all the energy he had left to open the window and pull himself inside. Once he was fully in the house, he collapsed on the floor in exhaustion.

“Dr. Lecter?”

Hannibal heard Will running down the stairs. _I cannot show any signs of weakness. I do not want his pity,_ Hannibal thought to himself, _he needs to see me as a strong, stable way out of his dark places._ Hannibal let out a quiet groan before standing up. He leaned nonchalantly on the wall, hoping that Will would not see how much Hannibal was relying on it for support.

Will ran into the room short of breath and with Talia in his arms. “Dr. Lecter, I’m sorry, are you okay?” He asked, approaching Hannibal slowly. Hannibal noticed how uncomfortable he seemed. He figured Will probably felt responsible.

“I’m alright,” Hannibal assured his patient. “It could’ve been worse. Needless to say, you will no longer be sleeping in your own room where I cannot keep an eye on you. I assume you understand it is for your own safety as well as Talia’s.”

Will averted his gaze and nodded. “Are you sure you’re not hurt?” He repeated.

Hannibal gave a weak smile. “Yes. Now, if you do not mind, I’d like to get dressed. I do have to work today,” he stated upon realizing that he was still in his pajamas and robe  
.  
“Fine,” Will agreed, looking to Talia. “I’ll just go and try and to feed her again.” Will gave one last doubtful glace at Hannibal before quietly leaving the room.

Hannibal sighed and began to walk back to his bedroom. Each step shot pain throughout his back, but soon it began to fade from severe pain to a major discomfort. He closed his bedroom door and removed his robe, then his shirt to inspect the damage.

Most of his back was already a dark purple. It was visibly swollen and scratched where his pajamas slid up as he was descending down the tilt of the rugged roof. The palms of his hands were equally scraped from where he was grasping the shingles to allow Will to walk across him. He frowned, but still continued on with his daily routine of putting on his three piece suit.

Once Hannibal was fully dressed and his hair was styled in its usual position, he walked back downstairs. He went to the kitchen, which to his despair was still filthy from yesterday, and gave his farewells to Will and Talia.

He walked out the front door, achy and weary. He was too exhausted from his late night and his long, painfully early morning to even notice the dark shadow watching Talia silently through the kitchen window.


	5. Chapter 5

Talia cried seven times so far today and Will’s ears had yet to stop ringing. He understood why she cried the original three times, and after he’d managed to change her rancid diapers, she would quiet down. Yet, the other four times were a mystery to him, in fact he felt like he was going even more insane.

Will would be sitting down on the floor with Talia, usually attempting to entertain her in some way such as a picture book or crayons, and the girl’s amused smile would drop from her face unpredictably. Her view would lock on something past Will and her eyes would fill with fear. Within seconds, she would be screaming and crying.

Will turned around to try and see what she did, but he never saw anything outside of the windows.

It was now 6:00 P.M. and Dr. Lecter would be home any minute. Will waited impatiently across from Talia, knowing she was growing bored and that he had no other means of entertainment for her. His fingers tapped eagerly on the armchair as he watched Talia out of the corner of his eye. She had been calm for slightly over an hour now, but he froze when he noticed she was once again staring out the window in fear. Will whipped his head around and he was almost positive he saw a dark figure move from outside. He jumped up from the chair and ran over to the window, but whatever he saw seemed to be gone now.

 _It was probably just an animal or something_ , Will reasoned with himself. However, Talia’s sudden cries made him think differently. He picked up the miserable girl and looked out the window one last time. He squinted as he thought he saw something else, but he relaxed slightly when he noticed it was a quick sight of the usual stag that haunts his life. He knew no one else could see it, so Talia couldn’t possibly be crying over it. Will still hated the damn hallucination or whatever it was, but at least it was familiar and not dangerous.

Within seconds, Will heard the front door open and Dr. Lecter walked inside.

“Hello Will,” Dr. Lecter greeted, nodding to him and the girl. “How was your first full day together?”

Will sighed and immediately tried to hand the sniffling girl off to the psychiatrist. “Rough, but better than expected,” he admitted.

Dr. Lecter gave an unimpressed glare at Will’s handoff, before turning away from it. “One moment please, let me take off my jacket.”

Will groaned, but pulled Talia back into his arms. He held her up with one hand while casually using the other to push a few strands of long blonde hair out of her face and using the collar of his shirt to dry her eyes. It felt like a ritual now, it happened so often. He didn’t even really notice when he was doing it anymore. In return, Talia reached out and placed a moist hand on Will’s cheek, smiling. Will stared into her bright blue eyes and held her gaze. He surprisingly didn’t mind making eye contact with her. She was young, so Will couldn’t see too much in her eyes.

“Alright, I can take her if you’d like,” Dr. Lecter said, turning back around after hanging up his coat.

Will jumped at the opportunity and gave the girl to him.

“Has she eaten dinner?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will averted his gaze before shrugging. “She’s eaten four peanut butter sandwiches today. She could probably use a more nutritious meal, but good luck getting her to eat it,” he replied.

Dr. Lecter frowned and walked briskly to the kitchen. Will followed reluctantly, not wanting to see the doctor upset again after Talia had refused to eat his food last night.

“Will, did you clean up the kitchen?” Dr. Lecter called back, surprised.

Will shrunk back in embarrassment. “Um, yeah. I thought I might as well help you out while I’m here. If the dishes were put back in the wrong spot, I’m sorry, I can try and move things around, I didn’t really know-” Will could feel the words rolling off his tongue but he couldn’t stop them.

“Thank you,” Dr. Lecter replied simply. Will looked up at him and met the man’s warm, grateful gaze for a moment, before darting away again.

Will nodded, but didn’t say anything more. He only looked up again when he heard a knife knocking against a cutting board. He watched as Dr. Lecter brought Talia a small plate with sliced strawberries and bananas on top. Will’s breathing stopped, knowing if the girl refused this simple meal, the doctor’s ego would be shattered.

His breath returned as the girl ate a piece of strawberry and smiled up at Dr. Lecter and Will. Dr. Lecter smiled back in content.

“I did some research between patients today,” Dr. Lecter mentioned as the girl ate. “Talia should be talking by now, despite her loss. She is at the age where she should understand her loss, while still being able to connect and interact with others.”

Will shrugged again. “I guess everyone is different, I don’t really think we should pressure her.”

“I agree,” Dr. Lecter replied. “I just believe we should keep an eye on her progress to make sure she is alright.”

Will watched as Talia finished off her plate of fruit. “I’m sure she’ll talk eventually. She’s probably just scared.”

“Of what?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will’s mind flashed back to the dark figure he thought he saw outside, but he brushed the image away. “Hopefully nothing we can’t handle.”

oOo

By the time night rolled around, Hannibal was yawning almost as much as the little girl. By 8:30, he figured it was time for bed. He prepared a bubble bath for Talia to wash her up before she went to sleep.

The girl was exhausted, barely keeping her eyes open. Occasionally she would smile up at Hannibal silently and without warning, reach up and smear soapy bubbles across his face. Hannibal realized he couldn’t even be angry at her, as she would laugh and grin mischievously. Though she was a pain, she was quite adorable.

When the girl was clean and Hannibal had gotten all the bubbles off of them both, he put her in her pajamas and took her to Will.

“Would you mind putting her in the crib while I get dressed for the night?” Hannibal asked Will, who had already changed while Talia was taking her bath.

“Yeah, sure,” Will nodded, taking the girl’s hand and leading her down the hallway.

“Make sure you return to my room once she’s in her bed. I promised I would watch you throughout the night to prevent you from walking off during your slumber,” Hannibal reminded his patient before turning and walking into his room.

Hannibal closed the door behind him and began to take off his suit coat, vest, tie, and dress shirt. He was folding them neatly when he heard footsteps approach his door  
.  
“Dr. Lecter, should I put her-” Will pushed open the door without even considering knocking, only to freeze immediately.

Hannibal turned to face him only to see the man’s face turn red and look away.

“I-I’m sorry, I thought you were- I don’t know. I’ll go-” Will stuttered out, beginning to exit the room, before stopping again. “Wait, Dr. Lecter could you…?”

Hannibal tried to catch Will’s confused gaze to no avail. “Yes?” He asked, folding his arms over his bare chest.

Will’s face was still a deep red color, but he looked up to meet Hannibal’s eyes. “Sorry, could you turn around a second?”

Hannibal clenched his teeth, but showed no visible emotion. “Will,” he began to explain.

“Please,” Will persisted. “I want to see what I did to you.”

Hannibal sighed. He was hoping he would heal before the window incident was ever mentioned again. He reluctantly turned around so his back faced Will.

The man was silent and Hannibal knew Will felt responsible for the black and blue bruising covering his entire back. The scrapes were mostly scabbed over, but everything else was a swollen purple color.

“You said you were fine…” Will whispered.

Hannibal turned back around to face his patient. The man expressed clear shock and guilt. “And I am,” Hannibal assured.

“No, no you’re not,” Will argued. “And it’s my fault. I’m so sorry, Dr. Lecter. I’m sorry I hurt everyone I get close to. What if I’d hurt Talia too? I need to leave-”

“Will, stop,” Hannibal commanded. Will was getting visibly upset, anxious, and on the verge of another seizure. “Will, you need to calm down.” Hannibal stepped closer and glanced at the digital clock on his wall. “It’s 9:04 P.M., you’re at my house in Baltimore Maryland, and your name is Will Graham.”

Will squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “I-I don’t care about me, you lied to me, you said you were okay but you’re not! I hurt you and you didn’t ask for help or anything, what if I’d seriously injured you?!”

Hannibal rested his hands on Will’s shoulders to ground him. “I did not lie to you Will. As I’ve told you before; I used to work in the medical field. I checked my injury, and I’m fine. I would’ve asked for help if I felt it was necessary,” he explained slowly.

Will seemed to be starting to calm down, but he was still breathing heavily. “D-does it hurt? Please don’t lie to me,” Will stuttered.

Hannibal was quiet a moment, contemplating his answer. He didn’t know how to be truthful enough to where Will would believe him, while also refusing to show weakness. “Yes,” he replied quietly. “But not as much as it would hurt me if this costs us our friendship.” _Perfect_ , Hannibal thought to himself.

Will lowered his head and nodded. “You sure?”

Hannibal smiled, knowing he had flawlessly executed this conversation. “Of course. Now why don’t you check on Talia one last time while I finish dressing? We may talk about this again later if you wish, but right now we should get some rest,” he stated.

Will gave a weak smile and exited the room, dragging his feet. Hannibal shut the door behind him and finished putting on his pajamas, wincing whenever he had to extend his back muscles.

A few minutes later, Hannibal heard a quiet knock on the door. “Come on in, Will,” he called out.

His patient walked in, keeping his eyes focused on the ground. “Where should I sleep? You said you wanted to keep an eye on me,” Will said.

“I have a fairly large bed, I assume you can fit comfortably on one side while I am on the other,” Hannibal explained.

Will raised an eyebrow, still avoiding eye contact. “Don’t you think that’s a little unorthodox?” He asked.

Hannibal sat down on one side of the bed and patted the opposite space. “I disagree. I’m merely staying in close contact to keep you safe from your own subconscious during the night.”

Will shrugged before cautiously climbing under the silk sheets of the bed. Hannibal noticed how the man laid as close to the edge of the mattress as possible without falling off. He decided not to mention it, figuring he would readjust at some point during the night. Instead, Hannibal just flicked off the light and got into bed. Before long, Hannibal fell asleep.

“Dr. Lecter!”

Hannibal awoke to Will desperately whispering his name and nudging at his shoulder. He opened his eyes, but it was still pitch black in his bedroom and the only light was his digital clock that showed 2:17 A.M.

Hannibal grunted, but Will was persistent.

“Dr. Lecter, wake up! I think someone’s trying to break into the house!”


	6. Chapter 6

It took Hannibal a minute to comprehend what exactly Will had said. He was still groggy and his mind was a little slow. However, Talia’s sudden shrill cries jolted him completely awake.

“Where did you see the intruder?” Hannibal asked, jumping out of the bed.

“I-I don’t know where he is now, I just saw a shadow pass by the window,” Will shouted above Talia’s screams.

Hannibal checked out the bedroom window, but it was entirely dark outside. “Go get the girl; I’ll look around the yard. Stay as quiet as possible and don’t turn on any lights. The last thing we want is for him to know we’re looking for him,” Hannibal ordered. He heard Will fumbling around in the dark before his footsteps led out of the room and down the hall.

Hannibal squinted, desperately trying to make out shapes in the dark house. He hurried out of the room, only after he’d rammed his calf on the bedpost. He trailed his hand against the wall as he maneuvered down the hallway and stairs in order to keep a general understanding of where he was located. However, once he’d run into a wall for the third time, he had to pause.

 _I know my own house_ , he reminded himself. _I’ve lived here for years, I know the layout._ Hannibal felt his heart pounding faster in his chest. _I’m not thinking straight. I am not one who exhibits fear, so why am I anxious?_ Hannibal considered the fact that now it was not only him in danger, but he quickly brushed the thought away. The last thing he wanted was to discover he actually cared deeply for another being.

Hannibal took a deep breath before mentally going over his house’s design and architecture. He then hurried down the foyer and up to his front door, peering curiously through the window. Seeing nothing, he turned around and went around the corner into his kitchen. This room was the most familiar to him. He glided around the kitchen with ease, quickly finding the counter and his large steak knife.

Hannibal found his way back to the front door and he silently tried to open it. _Locked._ He hadn’t noticed any windows open as he was running through his house, so perhaps there was still a chance that the intruder never even got inside. Hannibal unlocked it with a small click and he slipped outside.

The humid air weighed down on Hannibal as he felt his bare feet travel from his cement front porch to the cool, damp grass. The moon was barely a crescent in the sky and it provided no light. He cursed silently whenever he would entrap himself in the shrubs and undergrowth surrounding his house. He kept his back to the bricks as he encircled the building. He went around twice, switching directions after the first round just in case the man was following on the opposite side.

For a brief moment, Hannibal thought he detected a slightly unusual scent in the air. He froze and narrowed his eyes against the black shadows surrounding him, but after a millisecond the smell was gone and he was left to wonder if it was ever truly there to begin with.

After about 10 more minutes of wandering aimlessly around his lawn, Hannibal sighed and went back inside. He set the knife on the counter on his way past the kitchen, not bothering to try and put it back into its slot in the dark. He was fairly certain the intruder was gone, but he decided not to draw any attention by turning the lights on just in case.  
He made his way back upstairs and into the hallway. He smelled Will for a very brief second, just before colliding with him in the doorway.

“My apologies,” Hannibal whispered, putting a firm hold on Will’s shoulder to steady the man. “I didn’t see anyone outside, so I believe we’re safe.” He heard that Talia was there too, she was whimpering quietly in Will’s arms.

“She won’t go back to sleep,” Will stated. “She starts to cry whenever I put her down in her crib.”

Hannibal was quiet for a moment, before nudging Will towards his room. “Bring her with you then,” he said at last. “As I’ve told you before, I have a fairly large bed.” He followed Will back to the bed and he slid underneath the covers. He felt the mattress give as Will got in as well, placing Talia in the middle.

Hannibal had just closed his eyes when he felt something nudging at his arm. By instinct, he moved his arm out of the way only to feel Talia fill the gap between them. She curled up against his side and rested her head on his chest. Hannibal brought his arm back down and wrapped it around the little girl. He felt her heart beating rhythmically against him, and he knew she was safe nestled between him and Will. As he was about to drift off to sleep, he smiled, even though it was too dark for anyone else to see.

oOo

Will awoke peacefully for the first time since Jack put him on the Chesapeake Ripper case. The pale sunlight was shining through the curtains, illuminating the bedroom in a hazy light. Will turned his head to the side only to immediately meet Dr. Lecter’s gaze at a surprisingly short distance. Will’s eyes flicked to the clock before locking back on Dr. Lecter.

“It’s almost ten o’clock, I’m surprised you’re not out of bed already,” Will murmured, his mind still a little fuzzy.

Dr. Lecter smiled. “It appears I’m a little stuck.”

Will squinted in confusion, before realizing in shock that while the doctor had stayed on his own side of the bed, Will had splayed out down the center with his legs almost completely weaved in between Dr. Lecter’s. Talia, too, was asleep on top of the doctor’s torso.

“I’m sorry,” Will apologized, attempting to untangle himself. “Why didn’t you just wake me up?”

Dr. Lecter gave an amused sigh as he watched Will struggle to unwrap the sheets surrounding his and the psychiatrist’s legs. “It didn’t seem like you’ve slept that well in quite a while. I wanted to let you rest,” he explained.

Will grunted quietly, getting angry with the stupid silk. “How long have you been awake?” He asked.

Dr. Lecter was quiet for a moment. “Since about six.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “You laid here doing nothing for almost four hours just because you didn’t want to wake me up?”

Dr. Lecter gave a micro-smile in return. “I guess so.”

Will rolled his eyes. “Thanks.” He pulled at the blanket once more before finally freeing himself from it. A satisfied smile spread across his face as he separated himself from his psychiatrist.

Dr. Lecter carefully slid Talia off his chest and sat up. The girl grasped his shirt tightly, but when her back sunk into the soft sheets beneath her, she let go and curled up in the warm spot where Dr. Lecter once was.

“Would you like to help with breakfast?” Dr. Lecter asked, getting up from the bed.

Will shrugged. “Sure. I don’t know what help I’ll be to you, but I could try.”

Dr. Lecter expressed an appreciative smile before walking out of the room and down the stairs to the kitchen. Will followed closely behind, finding it odd how relaxed and human the man seemed without his usual suit and slicked back hair.

Once in the kitchen, Will watched as Dr. Lecter methodically got out multiple ingredients from his fridge, placing them on the counter.

“Would you please dice the tomatoes and peppers?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will nodded and took the fruits and vegetables from the doctor and placed them on the cutting board. His hand hovered over the block of knives, unknowing of the correct one for this particular job. He decided to go with the biggest one he could find. It may not be an exact dicing knife or whatever, but at least he could be sure it would cut completely through.

He trailed his finger along the handles as his eyes scanned over each knife. He came across a wide, empty slot where he could tell the largest one was supposed to be. His eyes darted around the kitchen, trying to spot it, but it was nowhere in sight. He checked to see if Dr. Lecter had it, but the man was cracking eggs.

“Dr. Lecter, where’s the knife that goes in this spot?” Will asked, indicating towards the empty space.

Dr. Lecter looked up to see what Will was talking about. “Oh, it’s…” The man spun around, before turning back to face Will in confusion. “Hm. I put it down on the counter last night after I checked the house for the intruder. It should have been right there,” Dr. Lecter confessed, eyeing the empty counter.

Will shrugged it off, knowing he’d misplaced things in his own home too many times to count. He grabbed the next largest knife and began to cut up a tomato. Within seconds, however, he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and Dr. Lecter breathing in his ear. Will tensed up, startled.

“Will, I need you to stay calm and quiet,” Dr. Lecter instructed in a whispered tone.

Will swallowed and nodded.

“You are to go upstairs and grab Talia. I want you to take her to your house,” Dr. Lecter ordered.

Will froze, unsure of how to react.

Dr. Lecter’s grasp on Will’s shoulder tightened. The man’s voice had gotten slightly louder, more urgent, and it came out almost as a growl. “ _Go!_ ”

Will sprinted up the stairs, his heart pounding out of his chest. He ran up to Dr. Lecter’s bedroom, but the door was shut, and when Will tried it, he found it to be locked. He threw himself against the door in desperation, and on the fourth try, broke it open. He stumbled frantically to the bed, but Talia was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

“Dr. Lecter she’s not up here!”

Hannibal vaguely heard Will’s shouts as he was already heading out the door with a rag that had a small amount of chloroform sloppily poured over it. He sprinted out onto his front porch and spun around, scanning his small yard. Similar to last night, a strange odor filled the air around him. He narrowed his eyes and was dead silent.

Hannibal took off towards the back of the house once a muffled cry broke the silence. He turned the corner and locked his eyes on his target. A large man, over six feet tall, was standing in the back yard. He was staring at something as he held Talia up to cover his head and torso. Hannibal cautiously looked further around the edge of the house and caught sight of Will with his gun outstretched and pointing at the stranger.

Hannibal tucked the rag into the pocket of his pajamas and slowly walked out and made himself visible.

Will was shaking and squinting at the man, on the verge of a panic attack. Hannibal made his way closer to the stranger. “Will, put your gun down. If you pull that trigger, you will shoot Talia,” Hannibal explained calmly.

Will blinked multiple times and narrowed his eyes at the stranger. “I-I can’t let him hurt Abigail again,” Will stuttered.

Hannibal tried to remain emotionless when he came to the realization that Will was hallucinating again. “Will, listen to me, do not fire your gun,” he ordered. He wished silently that he’d put on his watch, but decided to just make up a logical time. “It is 10:15 A.M., you are in my backyard in Baltimore, Maryland, and your name is Will Graham.”

Will shook his head and didn’t retract his wavering aim. Hannibal heard the stranger shift beside him, but one threatening glare held the man in place, warning him that if he moved a muscle, Will would most likely shoot.

“Will, what do you see?” Hannibal probed.

His patient was in a cold sweat by now, losing his grasp on reality. He squinted again, blinking quickly. “I d-don’t know,” he stuttered in reply. “Garret Jacob Hobbs, a-and Abigail, the stag-man, I-I don’t know.”

Hannibal frowned. He’d predicted Hobbs, but this was his first time hearing about a stag. He realized now was not a good time for psychoanalyzing. “Will, that man is not Hobbs, and the girl is not Abigail. Garret Jacob Hobbs is dead. Abigail is safe in the hospital. Do not shoot that gun or you will kill Talia.” Hannibal demanded.

Will just violently shook his head again and adjusted his aim on the stranger. “You’re not going to hurt Abigail again!” Will yelled out, pulling the trigger.

Time seemed to slow down and Hannibal never left his train of thought. _I could let Will shoot her. It will break him even more to where I can help him become what I want him to be,_ Hannibal debated.

However, those thought never took control of his actions, and before he could realize what he was doing, he found himself stepping in front of Talia and the stranger mere milliseconds before he heard the earsplitting sound of the bullet being shot from the barrel of the gun.

Hannibal felt the bullet lodge itself within his right shoulder and he turned his body with the force of it. The pain didn’t set in until he’d already removed the rag from his pocket, wrapped an arm around the stranger’s neck and pressed the cloth to his mouth and nose. The large man struggled for a good 30 seconds before going limp. Hannibal darted around his side and managed to wrap his uninjured arm around Talia before she was dropped.

Hannibal sighed when the man collapsed onto the ground, knocked out. He placed Talia gently on the grass, knowing that using his arm and chest muscles to hold her up would only force more blood out of his gunshot wound. He held one hand against the hole to keep pressure on it while making his way over to Will.

His patient was in a state of unconsciousness after experiencing a minor seizure. Hannibal painfully raised the non-bloody hand up to Will’s face, checking his forehead for a fever. After making sure Will was at least safe, he staggered back to Talia and took her hand. He walked her back into the house and set her on the couch.

“Stay here,” he ordered softly, and Talia nodded.

He went into his kitchen and took out another towel, wrapping it tightly around his upper chest and collar bone to cover his shoulder. It was far from effective, but it would have to work. Hannibal figured he had at most an hour to get the stranger tied down in his cellar and, if by chance one of his neighbors heard the gunshot, maybe ten minutes before the police arrived. He went back out to his backyard and grabbed the stranger by his feet. He began to drag the large man across the lawn and into his house. With every step he felt more blood pulse out of his shoulder.

At last, Hannibal had the man in his cellar. He sloppily gagged his mouth and tied him down to a chair. It wasn’t his best work, but it would hold the man down until Hannibal could return. As he was making his way back upstairs, he found that he was becoming quite light- headed. He made it back up to the living room where Talia sat before he collapsed in utter exhaustion and defeat.

oOo

When Will awoke he remembered everything. He just wasn’t sure what of it was completely true. He remembered that Talia wasn’t in bed when she should’ve been. He remembered finding a tall man holding her in the back yard, his paw-like hands muffling her cries. He remembered that he drew his gun, and that he shot Garret Jacob Hobbs. Of course, he knew that couldn’t possibly be accurate, so who did he shoot?

There was blood in the grass. Will could even smell the residue of the gunpowder in the air, so he knew he had to have shot someone. He prayed silently that it wasn’t Talia. Will felt his heart rate escalate as he sprinted around the house and through the door.

The sight of Dr. Lecter, bloody on the living room floor, sent the true memories flooding back to Will. He replayed the scene in his head with all the details up until his blackout, which was about two seconds after he fired the gun.

 _I shot Dr. Lecter_ , Will realized. He ran over and knelt down beside his psychiatrist, trembling. Talia must’ve felt his terror because soon she was crying as well. Will sat the doctor up against the side of the couch and lightly shook him.

“Dr. Lecter, get _up_!” Will yelled at the man. His raised voice caused Talia to scream.

Dr. Lecter opened his eyes and gave Will a weak smile. “I’m alright.”

Will felt like he could breathe again. “No, you’re not. I’m so sorry, I’ll call an ambulance,” he rambled.

“Will, calm down,” Dr. Lecter stated, sitting up on his own. “We don’t need an ambulance.”

Will peered at the man in confusion. “Fine, get in the car and I’ll take you to the emergence room. Come on, I’ll help you up,” he said, pulling at the doctors arm.

Dr. Lecter tensed up when Will tried to pull him. “Will, stop. Going by the fact that I’m still alive and I am able to move my arm and neck, I’m alright. The bullet seems to have missed the collar bone and shoulder joint. It looks like it tore through plain muscle tissue, no tendons or nerves were hit either. It missed the brachial artery as well, or else I would’ve bled out by now,” the doctor explained.

Will groaned, only half-understanding. “Well we have to go anyway, just in case. What if something is wrong and you just don’t know it?” He begged.

“That is unnecessary. We are fine on our own,” Dr. Lecter concluded.

“Why are you so against getting outside help?” Will asked, still trying to nudge the doctor up.

Dr. Lecter smiled. “Perhaps it’s ego-related. Besides, I know what I’m doing. You can help me, too,” he replied.

“What?” Will glared at his psychiatrist. “I have no idea how to do any of this stuff.”

Dr. Lecter grunted and pulled himself onto the couch. “I will talk you through it. First, go get the first aid kit from my restroom. It’s below the sink.”

Will nodded reluctantly before running off to the bathroom. He grabbed the large red case before sprinting back to the living room.

“Good,” Dr. Lecter said, using one hand to unbutton his pajama shirt. He grimaced as he stretched it around his shoulder and pulled it off.

Will glanced at the man’s bruised back and bloody shoulder before burying his face in his hands.

“Will? What’s wrong?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will could feel his face turning red and he started to shake again. He looked up warily and locked eyes with his psychiatrist. “I’m killing you!” He yelled out.

Dr. Lecter was quiet a moment before letting out a short, abrupt laugh.

“I don’t see the humor here,” Will muttered.

“I’m sorry, Will, but you have done nothing wrong. Everything you see, I have done to myself,” the doctor explained.

Will gave him an unamused glare. “I’m the one that dropped you out of the window and I’m the one who freaking shot you!”

Dr. Lecter reached out his good arm and brushed a sweaty curl out of Will’s eyes. “You’re not killing me, Will. I’m the one who let go of the roof in the first place and I stepped in front of your bullet.”

Will sighed, unbelieving. “If you didn’t, I would’ve killed Talia,” he admitted.

“If you didn’t shoot, the stranger would not have dropped Talia and fled. You saved her,” Dr. Lecter mentioned.

Will had almost forgotten about the intruder. “So he’s gone?”

Dr. Lecter nodded. Will was quiet for a while, weighing out the good and the bad. Did he really save Talia by almost killing her?

“Could you please help me with my shoulder?” Dr. Lecter said at last, completely disregarding the conversation.

Will shrugged. “I don’t know how. What do you want me to do?”

Hannibal reached over and opened the red kit, pulling out a long pair of medical tweezers and holding them out to Will. “The bullet is still inside,” he stated simply.

Will backed away, shaking his head. “No, I can’t do that. Let’s just call an ambulance or something, they’ll do it for you.”

“We’re not going to have this conversation again,” Dr. Lecter mentioned, still holding out the tool.

Will reluctantly stepped forward and grabbed the utensil; cautiously peering into the doctor’s wound. “I can’t see it.”

“You’ll feel it,” Dr. Lecter replied. The man clenched his fists in preparation for pain. “Go on, now. I’ll be fine.”

Will knelt down next to his psychiatrist’s shoulder and lined up the tweezers with the angle of entry. “Are you ready? I don’t want to hurt you,” Will said.

“I’m alright. Go ahead.”

Will shoved the utensil into Dr. Lecter’s shoulder, causing the man to tense up and squeeze his hands together until his knuckles were white. Will felt awful to have to put his psychiatrist through all this. He moved the tweezers around inside until he felt them click against more metal. He took a deep breath, grabbed the object, and pulled, hoping it was the bullet and not a ligament or something.

Will thought he heard Dr. Lecter growl, but he pulled the object out anyway. He was relieved when he held up the bloodied bullet.

Dr. Lecter sighed in content. “Thank you.”

Will nodded in reply. “Are we done?”

The doctor half-smiled. “Would you mind stitching it up for me?”

Will groaned. “Fine, what do I do?”

 

Dr. Lecter pulled out a thin wire-like bundle and cut off a generous length. He then took out a needle and handed them both to Will.

“Just thread the needle and sew,” he instructed.

Will tied the string through the eye of the needle and looked warily at the doctor’s mutilated flesh. He took a deep breath and plunged the point through the first layers of skin.

“What time is it?” Dr. Lecter asked.

“What?” Will grimaced when he pulled the needle through the other side. “How is that important right now?”

“I’m merely curious,” the doctor replied. “Do you know the time, then?”

Will accidentally jabbed his finger into the wound when he tried to grab the needle again, causing both him and Dr. Lecter to retract from each other.

“Sorry,” he apologized, wiping his bloody finger off on his t-shirt. “And does it really matter what time it is? I’m trying to close up your shoulder.

Dr. Lecter clenched his jaw. “It matters to me.”

Will sighed and stood up. _Sometimes Dr. Lecter can be such an immature child_ , Will thought. He turned the corner and checked the clock on the stove in the kitchen.

“It’s almost 11:30,” he stated when he returned to Dr. Lecter.

For the first time, Will thought he saw uneasiness flash through the man’s eyes.

“You alright?” Will asked, continuing to sew up the shoulder.

Dr. Lecter gave a visibly fake, plastic smile.

Will shrugged it off, until he heard thumping from below the floorboards.


	8. Chapter 8

“What was that?” Will asked, eyeing Dr. Lecter.

“What are you talking about?” The man countered, looking genuinely confused.

Will was quiet for a moment, and within seconds he heard the bumping sound on the floorboards again. “That. That weird pounding, it sounds like it’s coming from below us. I didn’t know you had a basement,” Will pointed out.

“It’s very messy and unorderly, but yes I have one. I’ve been meaning to clean it up but I keep finding animals down there. That must be what the sound was, I set some traps for them,” Dr. Lecter replied.

Will’s eyes widened. “Traps? Harmless ones, right?”

“Yes, of course,” the psychiatrist assured.

Will relaxed slightly. “Well I’ll go check it out for you,” he said, standing up to leave the room.

“No!”

Will stopped. “Why? What could possibly be down there?” He asked.

Dr. Lecter casually looked over at Will. “It could be a raccoon, and I don’t want you getting bitten and infected. Or it could quite possibly be a skunk, and I would not be happy if you startled it and it sprayed,” he explained.

Will shrugged. “I’ll be careful. And that thud sounded a lot bigger than just a raccoon. Maybe it’s a dog,” Will smiled at the thought of introducing another friend to his pack.

“Will, no,” Dr. Lecter ordered. “I will go, I’ve done this before.”

Dr. Lecter began to get up off the couch, only for Will to push him back. “You’ve just been shot, you’re not venturing into the basement containing a wild animal.”

Dr. Lecter stared firmly at Will. “You did an acceptable job sewing me back up, I’ll be fine.”

Will groaned. “Why don’t we just call animal control? Or even better, call Jack and explain everything. What if that intruder is hiding out down there?”

“Do you know what would happen if we told Jack what happened?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will shook his head.

“Well,” Dr. Lecter continued, “For one, you’ll be brought in for questioning and they’ll wonder why you blacked out and hallucinated. Two, you’ll have to explain why you shot me. And three, Talia will most likely be taken away from us. Do you want that?”

Will looked over to Talia sitting silently in the large chair flipping through a picture book. Will frowned and looked back to Dr. Lecter. “I don’t want to give her up,” he replied at last.

“I agree,” Dr. Lecter stated, standing up and walking towards the doorway to the room while simultaneously pulling his nightshirt back on. “So I think you should just leave this to me, I know what I’m doing.”

Will nodded and turned to sit next to Talia, pulling her onto his lap. He wiped away the remnants of her dried tears and he held her close.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he whispered.

oOo

Hannibal breathed a sigh of relief once he exited the room. Honestly, he was surprised Will even believed his story about his basement being filled with rogue animals. However, Hannibal was glad that he did. It gave him time to go back to his basement and give the stranger a strong sedative until he could deal with him later tonight.

As Hannibal walked down his stairs, he could feel his skin pulling and testing the stitches in his shoulder. Once at the bottom of the staircase, he unlocked the door and cautiously opened it. The stranger was still tied up to the chair for the most part, but he’d gotten his legs free and he was angrily ramming himself against the wall in an attempt to break free.

The man locked eyes with Hannibal, glaring. He then turned and charged at Hannibal, chair still tied to his arms and torso. Such a large man was relatively easy to duck away from, but as Hannibal bent sideways to dodge the blow, he felt a few of the stiches in his shoulder tear away, leaving a small stream of blood trickling down his chest and cementing his shirt down.

“We may talk later,” Hannibal mentioned, moving away to avoid another attack. “But as for right now, I don’t have time to deal with you. Frankly, you’re beginning to disrupt my guest by banging around down here. Quite rude of you.”

Hannibal made his way to the cabinet, pulled out a syringe, and turned towards his attacker. The stranger took no notice of the needle, and he continued to charge. Once he was about 3 feet away, Hannibal stepped to the side and stuck the needle in the man’s neck. The large stranger was unconscious within seconds.

Hannibal smiled in content. He left the man on the ground, being too weak in his shoulder to lift the chair back into a sitting position. He instead just retied the man’s feet together in a tighter, more secure knot than before. Once he was finished, he relocked the basement door and walked back up to Will.

“Was there a dog?” Will asked as soon as he saw that the psychiatrist had returned.

Hannibal was amused by how excited Will seemed. “No, no dog.”

Some of the light left Will’s eyes. “Oh,” he sighed. “What was it then?”

“I don’t know,” Hannibal lied. “The traps went off, that’s the pounding you heard, but there were no animals inside. I’ll keep the door locked for your safety in case something decides to venture upstairs. When was the last time you saw your dogs, Will?”

Will shrugged. “Since the day we took Talia over here. I’ve been calling Alana and having her let them outside and feed them.”

“Do you miss them?” Hannibal was eager to change the subject.

Will gave a short laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. They’re practically family to me. I suppose I have you and Talia now though,” he explained.

Hannibal tilted his head in mild interest. “Would you like to visit them?”

Will’s eyes lit up again. “I’d love to, maybe if we introduce them to Talia one at a time then she won’t be so scared.”

Hannibal smiled when he saw how happy Will had become. He almost wished he could see the man and his dogs reunite. “Well you two have fun today, then. I’ve still got to go to work, I’m already beyond late,” he stated, turning to walk upstairs.

“What?”

Hannibal spun back around to face his patient. “I’m going to get ready for work, but please do go back to Wolf Trap and enjoy yourself.”

Will stepped forward and locked eyes with Hannibal for a brief moment. “You can’t go to work today, for God’s sake you just got shot two hours ago!”

“Will, I guarantee you that I’m fine,” Hannibal replied.

“No,” Will persisted. “Dr. Lecter, I already let you convince me not to call the police or an ambulance, you wouldn’t let me take you to the hospital after I shot you, I am _not_ letting you go to work!”

Hannibal walked closer to size up his patient. “I am fine. The bullet did not cause any harm and I feel perfectly normal.”

“What if you’re wrong and that bullet did hit something vital, what if something happens to you in your office and I’m not there to help?” Will argued.

“It didn’t, and I am fine. Will, I am going to work,” Hannibal stated, beginning to turn back towards the upper staircase.

“Hannibal!” Will yelled.

Hannibal froze, raising an eyebrow at the use of his first name. This was certainly unexpected from Will, taking into consideration the man’s condition and his social anxieties. Hannibal could’ve never predicted Will suddenly taking control of a situation and raising his voice. This was… _interesting._

Hannibal looked back and stared into Will’s eyes. Surprisingly, the man held his gaze. Irritation still shimmered in his patient’s eyes, but for the most part Will looked smug. He was successful in halting Hannibal and he almost looked proud of himself for standing up to the man.

“Now that I have your attention, _Hannibal_ ,” Will continued, testing the doctor’s name, “I want you to listen and understand what I’m telling you.”

Hannibal stared back at Will, unsure of how to approach the situation. He watched as Will’s eyes went from defiance to worry. Hannibal softened his gaze in return.

“I do not want you to go to work. You’ve had probably the worst morning of your life. You will send out a message to all the patients you had scheduled, and you’ll stay home. I’m going to take care of you today, since I was the cause for all your pain,” Will demanded.

Hannibal opened his mouth to argue, but Will interrupted.

“Stop, Hannibal. I’m going to help you out with everything for the day and you’re going to relax and heal,” he said.

Hannibal huffed. “I don’t need help.”

Will ran a hand though his messy curls before groaning. “Can’t you see that I need to help you? It’s the only thing I can do to make me feel less guilty about all the shit that’s happened to you!” He yelled out angrily.

Hannibal was quiet a moment. He knew Will wouldn’t take into consideration anything he tried to say about nothing being Will’s fault, so he decided just to accept it. What harm could one day off do?

“Alright,” Hannibal agreed at last, before beginning to walk upstairs.

“Thank you,” Will sighed. “Where are you going then?”

“I would still like to shower and get dressed for the day,” Hannibal replied.

Will sprinted up the stairs, passing by Hannibal. “I’ll help!” He yelled out behind him.

Hannibal clenched his jaw, refraining from saying anything he’d regret. “Come on, Talia!” He called out, remaining calm. When Talia ran to him, he held her hand in his own and walked up with her. “I guess we’re all going upstairs together.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So… Hannibal goes through more physical pain (Idk why I keep doing this to him), Will hallucinates, and Hannibal speaks some Lithuanian which is probably wrong since I used google translate (sorry). Enjoy…?

“Will, you don’t have to help with _everything_.”

Will ignored Dr. Lecter’s protests and continues to run a rag under the stream of warm water coming from the sink.

“Well, Hannibal,” Will began, continuing to test the name, “despite your navy blue pajamas, I can still blatantly see the blood continuing to pool underneath. I must not have done a very good job of stitching up your shoulder.”

Dr. Lecter huffed but didn’t argue. Will squeezed most of the excess water out of the rag before turning to the psychiatrist. He patted the marble counter next to the bathroom sink, beckoning the man over to sit.

Dr. Lecter reluctantly hoisted himself up. “How long is this going to take? Talia’s alone in the next room and I’m sure she’d enjoy it if you accompanied her and allowed me to shower in peace,” he stated.

Will raised an amused eyebrow. “I’m just going to clean and re-stitch your shoulder, relax,” he replied. “Now take off that bloody shirt.”

When Dr. Lecter didn’t move, Will rolled his eyes. _“Please_ take off that bloody shirt.”

The man gave a small smile of content before starting to take off his pajama top. Will winced as he watched Dr. Lecter attempt to peel the fabric off of areas where it had been stuck in blood. At last he managed to get the shirt completely off and he folded it, placing it in the sink beside him.

Will grimaced when he examined the wound. The stitches were all torn apart and the open hole still oozed. Blood had smeared over the doctor’s entire torso and clung to some of his chest hair.

“I can handle it on my own if you cannot,” Dr. Lecter offered softly.

Will shook his head. “I analyze crime scenes for the FBI; I’m pretty sure I can handle a little blood,” he argued. He then placed the wet rag directly over the bullet hole, causing Dr. Lecter to flinch backwards.

“It’s a little difficult to clean you up when you keep pulling away,” Will muttered sarcastically.

“My apologies, Will. I was simply startled,” Dr. Lecter explained, readjusting himself on the counter.

Will took the rag again and pressed it to the doctor’s chest, distant from the wound. “It’s alright,” he stated. “I’ll work my way there then. I’ll start by cleaning up all the blood smears so that I can actually see what I’m doing.” Will dragged the rag over the man’s entire torso in attempt to wash all the red off.

Will blinked and suddenly Dr. Lecter was covered in the crimson color again. Will squinted and rubbed harder at the stains but they weren’t coming off. He continued to scrape at them, feeling the fevered warmth return to his head. His heart rate was increasing drastically and he still couldn’t wipe the blood off. He heard the familiar clicks of hooves against the bathroom tiles and he felt the damn stag sniffing at his back.

“Will!”

Will blinked and the blood was gone. He spun around and couldn’t see any animals in the room.

“Will, calm down, it’s okay. What did you see?”

Will turned back towards Dr. Lecter, still shaking. “Th-the blood wouldn’t come off,” he stuttered.

Dr. Lecter frowned. “The blood was gone with the first couple of wipes. You’ve just been rubbing vigorously at my skin,” he clarified.

Will’s gaze travelled down the doctor’s chest to find it turning pink from abrasions.

“I-I’m… sorry,” Will apologized, hanging his head. “I’ll let you take a shower on your own then. Just call me if you need help.”

oOo

Hannibal nodded in agreement to Will’s suggestion. He pushed himself off of the bathroom counter and tried to stand up, but almost immediately he felt like all the blood drained from his head, leaving him weak. He became disorientated, confused, and then he collapsed on the ground.

“Dr. Lecter!”

Hannibal squinted and when the fogginess left his eyes, he saw Will crouched next to him. The poor unstable man looked concerned and terrified.

“I thought you were calling me Hannibal from now on,” Hannibal questioned in attempt to lighten the mood.

Will shook his head and put a hand on Hannibal, who was still swaying in an upright position on the floor. “That’s irrelevant, are you okay?”

Hannibal tried to give a reassuring smile, but he doubted it looked very genuine. “I’m alright, really. I’ll be fine,” he stated.

Will frowned, clearly doubtful. “I’m going to sit outside of the shower curtain so if you fall again, I’ll hear you,” he explained.

“That’s quite unnecessary-”

“ _Hannibal_.” Will looked into Hannibal’s eyes for longer than usual. “I’m staying.”

Hannibal sighed in defeat and allowed Will to hook an arm around his waist, gently pulling him back onto his feet. Hannibal felt his head pulsate, but he leaned on his patient to steady himself. He then transferred his weight off of Will and onto the bathroom wall, regaining balance.

Will watched him intently for a few seconds before turning towards the door. “I’m going to check on Talia, then I’m coming back in. Be inside the shower by then and make sure you can actually stay standing,” he ordered.

Hannibal nodded, which didn’t help his head. This was interesting seeing Will take initiative like this, and it’s completely unexpected from someone like him. Any other day Hannibal would be eager to defy Will’s commands and observe his response, but right now he was just too weak to bother.

Hannibal removed the rest of his pajamas and cautiously stepped onto the tile floor of the shower. Before he even had time to turn the water on, Will had barged back inside.  
“Are you alright in there?” He asked through the curtain.

Hannibal kept a hand steady on the opposite wall. “Perfect fine,” he replied. He reached across and turned the handle, causing hot water to shoot from the shower head.

“Šūdas!” Hannibal muttered when the scorching water sprayed on his back.

“What?” Will asked from the other side.

Hannibal tried to turn it back down but when he spun to face the dial, water burned into his bullet hole. He clenched his teeth and stifled a grunt. “Nothing, Will.”

“What’d you say? Do you need something?” Will was persistent.

Hannibal pressed himself to the wall in attempt to avoid as much of the water as possible. “Erh, by any chance could you reach inside and turn the handle to the right? The water is much too hot,” he confessed.

Hannibal heard shuffling from the other side. “Yeah, sure,” Will replied. Hannibal turned slightly to see one of Will’s arms stick blindly through the curtain and hover around in search of the dial. Once making contact, Will turned it almost completely to the other side.

Hannibal closed his eyes in disappointment as the boiling water froze nearly to ice.

“Is that good?” Will asked, before reaching his hand into the water. He retracted quickly after feeling it.

“Oops, that’s a bit cold,” Will concluded before returning to the dial.

Hannibal stayed pressed to the wall for several minutes as the water switched between boiling and ice temperatures, before finally settling at lukewarm.

“Thank you, Will,” Hannibal muttered half-heartedly. He stepped into the spray range and watched the water turn red as it traveled down his body and pooled at his feet. He balled his hands into a tight fist, his knuckles turning white, whenever the water struck his shoulder. He was exhausted from so much blood loss, and at one point he resorted to sitting down on the tiles. When soap dripped into the bullet hole he almost passed out. Will’s conversations were one of the few things that kept him conscious.

“What did you say before?” Will asked.

“What do you mean?” Hannibal replied, weakly running shampoo through his hair.

“Just a few minutes ago, you said something like ‘sooh duhs’,” Will said.

Hannibal gave a short laugh. “Yes, Šūdas. I’m sorry Will, had you known what I said you would have thought me to be quite rude.”

“Well what language was that?” Will probed.

Hannibal took a deep breath, unsure of whether or not he had the energy for this conversation. “Lithuanian,” he explained simply.

Will was quiet for a few seconds. “So that’s where your accent comes from. Say something else,” he insisted.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, it sounds cool.”

Hannibal bit his tongue at Will’s immaturity. “Alright. Aš serijinis žudikas ir kanibalas. Aš šeriami jums žmogaus mėsą, taip pat. Turiu dar vieną auką įstrigę mano rūsyje dabar, ir aš planuoju žudyti jam vakarą.” The words rolled of Hannibal’s tongue without thought, and he found slight humor and irony knowing that Will should never understand what he said.

Will let out a breathy laugh. “What did you say?” He asked.

Hannibal smiled to himself. “Nothing of importance. Mindless statements that popped up in my head,” he assured. Hannibal pulled himself back onto his feet and, in seeing that most of the blood had washed off, reached out to turn the water off.

“Are you done?” Will called out through the curtain.

“Yes, could you get some clothes for me? It seems I’d forgotten to grab them on my way in,” Hannibal explained.

“No problem,” Will replied and within seconds, Hannibal heard the bathroom door close behind him.

Hannibal reached an arm around the corner of the shower and grabbed a towel off the rack. After fastening it around his waist, he opened the curtain and prepared himself to make the slippery step out over the side of the tub surrounding him.

Just as he’d lifted one foot, Will slammed through the door and ran in, causing the cabinets to shake. Hannibal felt a weak leg slip out from underneath him and he splattered down on the shower tiles.

“Shit Dr. Lecter, are you okay?” Will hurried over, in the heat of the moment forgetting to use the doctor’s first name again.

Hannibal shakily pushed himself back up. “Will, we really need to teach you how to knock on a door. Or at least not to crash through as if the world were ending,” he spoke through clenched teeth.

“Sorry, I’m used to living alone and I wanted to hurry back in case something happened to you,” Will stated.

Hannibal nodded in understanding. “Could I please get dressed now? I’ll sew up my own shoulder while I’m in here.”

Will frowned, but turned to exit. “You sure you don’t want me to help?”

Hannibal forced a smile on his face. “Positive.”

oOo

Will waited patiently outside the bathroom door, curious to see the doctor when he walked out. He didn’t want a nice suit to get ruined in case Dr. Lecter’s shoulder started bleeding again, so he’d dug through the back of the closet and the bottoms of the drawers to find something less classy.

“Needless to say, I don’t think I’ve ever worn this before,” Dr. Lecter commented as he walked through the bathroom door.

Will grimaced at his horrible pick of clothes. In the haste of grabbing whatever he could find, he realized he’d forgotten a few things. Dr. Lecter wore faded black corduroy pants, one dark purple sock that most likely belonged to a fancy suit, and a grey vest without an undershirt.

“Sorry,” Will apologized again.

Dr. Lecter gave an abrupt laugh. “To be honest, I’m not exactly sure where you found some of these items.”

Will shrugged. “I didn’t want to get one of your nice suits bloody,” he explained.

Dr. Lecter stepped closer, looking genuinely appreciative. However, Will couldn’t possibly take the man seriously in that ridiculous vest.

“Thank you for your consideration, Will,” Dr. Lecter replied. “But you are aware that I don’t only wear suits, right?”

Will didn’t reply. He just watched as Dr. Lecter stepped around him and pulled a maroon sweater out of a drawer in his nightstand and used it to replace the vest. After looking around unsuccessfully for about five minutes for a mate, he took off the purple sock altogether and put on a black pair to match the pants. When he was finished, Will helped him out of the room.

Will spent the rest of the day trying to care for both Talia and Dr. Lecter. Though the psychiatrist had insisted that he was fine, Will was determined to make it up to him. He even tried to cook for the doctor, but of course that didn’t go well. Dr. Lecter was appreciative and polite, but Will knew the food was absolutely awful.

By 8:00 P.M., Will was exhausted. They’d finally all settled down in Talia’s room and the girl had brought one of her picture books to Dr. Lecter. The man lifted her onto his lap and she clung to him tightly. Will sat back in the armchair beside them as Dr. Lecter opened up the thin book. Will soon dozed off to the sounds of the doctor’s gentle voice sounding around the small room.

Will was completely unconscious by the time the book was finished and he never even noticed when Dr. Lecter laid Talia down in the crib, took a small cloth out of his back pocket, and held it softly to Will’s mouth and nose.

Will couldn’t wake up even as Dr. Lecter snuck out of the room and down into the basement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m hoping that the Lithuanian translates correctly; again, I’m sorry if it doesn’t.  
> Šūdas! : Shit!  
> Aš serijinis žudikas ir kanibalas. Aš šeriami jums žmogaus mėsą, taip pat. Turiu dar vieną auką įstrigę mano rūsyje dabar, ir aš planuoju žudyti jam vakarą : I'm a serial killer and a cannibal. I have fed you human meat, too. I have another victim trapped in my basement right now, and I plan on killing him tonight.
> 
> Furthermore, I'm super appreciative of all the positive feedback from you guys, thank you all so much. I'm leaving town for a few days so I might not update again until Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks for sticking with me, I know I'm very unpredictable with my update times. I hope you're all still enjoying the story:)


	10. Chapter 10

Hannibal calmly walked down two flights of stairs to get from Talia’s bedroom to the basement. Due to the drugs, Will would not be able to sleep walk, so Hannibal had nothing to worry about other than finishing his business with the intruder.

He approached the door at the bottom of the stairs and unlocked it with a small key. As he cautiously peered through the opening, he found that the stranger was still bound and laying on the floor. The man looked weak, having not eaten for over 24 hours and the entire cellar had the faint smell of urine etched into the floors.

Hannibal frowned at the untidiness. Usually he didn’t keep his victims alive long enough to make a mess of his home. The stranger opened his eyes and immediately started to inch away.

Hannibal walked up to him and began to pull out the gag on his mouth. “Feel free to speak now,” the doctor mentioned. “I do have a guest, but he’s in no condition to regain consciousness.”

The stranger coughed once the fabric was removed, glaring up at Hannibal.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been terribly rude,” Hannibal apologized. “You must be thirsty.” He walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a room-temperature bottle of water. He twisted the top off and held it to the man’s mouth.

“I’d rather not untie your hands, so if you want water then you’ll have to obtain it this way,” Hannibal explained, tilting the bottle back.

Almost all of the water was finished within seconds. The stranger only wasted the last mouthful, which he spit back at Hannibal.

The psychiatrist frowned and wiped the droplets from his face. Hannibal considered killing him at that exact moment, but he decided he’d rather talk first.

“What is your name?” He asked simply. When he got no reply, he turned towards the counter and picked up a scalpel from the surgical tray. He spun back around and made a relatively deep incision in the man’s cheek.

“I hate having one-sided conversations,” he mentioned. “So if you’d kindly reply, you’d save me the trouble of cleaning up more of your blood.”

A deep rumble came from the stranger’s throat, but he seemed to have thought better of it. “Duncan.”

Hannibal gave a content smile. “Thank you, Duncan. Now I was wondering, why is it that you decided to kill Talia’s family and then try to steal her from me?”

Duncan clenched his jaw and continued to glare. Hannibal, in return, settled on dragging the scalpel across the man’s jawline.

Duncan growled. “She’s my daughter!” He yelled.

“Your name was not listed on her birth certificate,” Hannibal countered.

“That’s because her mother wanted nothing to do with me. She tricked her douchebag husband into thinking the baby was his,” Duncan hissed.

Hannibal circled around the chair. “So logically, you responding by murdering them and trying to run off with the girl,” he replied, sarcasm hinting in his tone.

“No, dumbfuck,” Duncan sneered. “Of course I talked to her. I fought with her for hours and planned on going to court to gain custody, but my lawyer looked at the case and said that I had no chance because of my ‘history’.”

Hannibal frowned at the man’s language, but he didn’t respond.

Duncan huffed. “Are you gonna let me go now? I’m fucking starving.”

Hannibal shook his head slowly. “No.”

“Why the hell not? I’ve answered your stupid questions, not to mention the fact that I was down here forever without food or water,” Duncan yelled in anger.

Hannibal ignored the rant and instead walked back to his surgical table. He grabbed a large blade before returning to Duncan. He held the metal up against the man’s neck and smiled down at him.

“Because I am Talia’s father now and I refuse to let you take her away from me.”

oOo

Will woke up with one of the worst headaches of his life. Strangely enough, he didn’t remember dreaming at all and his clothes were sweat-free for the first time in months. Still, as he started to stand up, the pounding pain in his head made him wonder which the greater evil was.

Will squinted against the light shining through the window and began to identify his surroundings. He wasn’t in bed, but Will didn’t think he sleep-walked either. Slowly his memory returned and he was reminded that he must’ve fallen asleep in Talia’s room. Across from him in the rocking chair, Dr. Lecter was still fast asleep.

Will looked at the clock. _9:57 A.M., Dr. Lecter should’ve been awake hours ago_ , Will thought. _Why is he so tired? After all, I’m the one who took care of him all yesterday, what could he do to wear himself out?_

Will rolled his eyes and walked over to the chair, contemplating waking the doctor up. Will stopped and looked down at the doctor for a moment. The man was still wearing the sweater and his hair was disheveled, making him look so… _human_. Instead of Dr. Lecter’s usual fake, plastic appearance, he seemed relaxed and peaceful.

Before Will realized what he was doing, his hand reached out and touched the man’s face. He traced a finger down Dr. Lecter’s cheekbones and along his jawline, taking advantage of a rare moment when the psychiatrist wasn’t wearing his emotionless mask.

Will, in becoming more curious, moved his hand up and ran it through Dr. Lecter’s hair. He messed it up as much as he possibly could.

“Good morning, Will.”

Will immediately retracted his hand. He struggled for words that would explain his actions, but nothing came out. Dr. Lecter watched him silently, his face now returning to its usual, expressionless gaze. Will felt his face heat up and turn red, and then he abruptly turned around and walked out of the room. He could almost feel the doctor’s stare on his back.

 _What the hell was I thinking?_ Will scolded himself silently. _I can’t just stroke my psychiatrist, that’s unprofessional and unethical and downright creepy!_ Will tried to calm down; after all, Dr. Lecter didn’t seem angry at all. He just looked confused. _As he should,_ Will thought. _He just woke up to his patient playing with his face_.

Will shook his head and walked downstairs into the kitchen. He figured that maybe if he attempted to make them all breakfast then it would take the attention away from their previous encounter. He took the eggs out of the refrigerator, his hands still shaking. He managed to get five into the skillet before he cracked one onto the floor.

As Will bent down to clean up the remains, he heard the other eggs sizzling on the fryer. He left the eggshells on the ground and turned back to the still-edible eggs, throwing in seasonings that sounded like something Dr. Lecter would use. He ran back to the fridge to throw in some vegetables and pre-made sausages of some kind. He frantically stirred as he heard the doctor coming down the stairs.

“Would you like some help with breakfast?” Dr. Lecter asked.

Will turned around to see the psychiatrist carrying Talia in his good arm. The man looked like he didn’t even bother with fixing his hair, he’d just left it how Will had it. Will’s face turned red again, and he pretended not to notice.

“Er- no I’m fine. Would you like me to take her? Here-” Will rushed over to relieve Dr. Lecter of holding Talia, but he’d forgotten about the egg he had dropped. In his attempt to run to the other man, he slipped on the gooey egg and fell onto the hard, tile floor.

“Will? Are you alright?” Within seconds Dr. Lecter had put Talia down and crouched beside his patient.

Will rubbed the area of his forehead just above his eyebrow where he’d hit the hardest. His fingers came back smeared in blood. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Will stuttered, shying away from the doctor.

“Let me see,” Dr. Lecter persisted.

“Its fine,” Will murmured, beginning to turn away. However, a soft hand then nudged Will’s head up, forcing him to make eye contact with Dr. Lecter for a brief moment.

Dr. Lecter reached up onto the counter and grabbed a rag. Will looked away from the man, still embarrassed. He heard running water and then the damp cloth was pressed to his forehead.

“It’s not deep and you’re not showing any signs of concussion,” Dr. Lecter concluded, pulling the rag away.

Will shrugged, still not looking at the doctor. Then Will felt something strange, as if… _lips_ were pressed to his forehead. He instantly flicked his gaze up towards the doctor, but the man was acting completely casual. _Did Dr. Lecter just_ kiss _my cut?_ Will wondered. He stared at Dr. Lecter for a few moments longer, but the man showed no signs as to whether or not that really happened.

Will shook the thought away; it had to have just been the cloth or something. Still, it felt _so real._

“There we go,” Dr. Lecter stated as he finished wiping up the egg remains.

Will nodded at the man and returned to the grill. The eggs looked completely dried out, but he still turned off the flame and served them on plates. He carried them to the table, the doctor following closely behind. Will put a plate down in front of himself, Dr. Lecter, and Talia, then waited for a reaction.

Talia immediately pushed the plate away and pouted, but Will expected that from her. Dr. Lecter ate a small bite before smiling politely. Will tried a forkful as well, but he almost threw it back up. Whatever the hell those spices were, they were not meant for eggs.

“Sorry,” Will muttered. He watched as Dr. Lecter managed to swallow another bite before looking back at his patient.

“How about we go and visit your dogs today?” Dr. Lecter suggested.

Will visibly lit up with excitement. “Really? I mean, I know you’ve mentioned it before but I didn’t think you’d actually go,” he admitted.

Dr. Lecter smiled. “I’d love to.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking so long to upload, I'm really bad with schedules.

Hannibal sat quietly in the passenger seat while Will drove to Wolf Trap. Talia was silent too, so the entire car had a faint awkward tension radiating throughout it. Hannibal, of course, knew why. He found it quite amusing when he would glance over at Will and the man, in realizing Hannibal was watching, would turn a deep red color.

Hannibal smiled to himself and sat back in the seat, smoothing out his plaid, light blue suit. He bitterly refused to spend another day in Will’s company wearing an old sweater and corduroys. Will, to Hannibal’s distaste, was still wearing an old button up shirt and faded jeans. To make things worse, it was the same outfit as before. Since they had both left Will’s house in a rush to find Talia food, Will hadn’t brought any extra clothes. The man slept in his boxers and t-shirt, so he never needed any. Luckily, Hannibal was able to convince him to wash them every day.

Eventually they pulled up into Will’s driveway and the unstable man excitedly ran from the car. Hannibal was entertained by Will’s childish actions, and he followed behind him after taking Talia out of her car seat. He was able to hold her relatively well in his good arm.

Will busted through his front door and happily crouched down to greet each of his dogs. Loud barking filled the house and Hannibal stood back in distaste.

“Are you ready to introduce Talia to them, one at a time, so that she is not frightened?” Hannibal asked.

Will nodded before nudging six dogs into the other room, leaving only one yellow dog. Will commanded him to lie down and he pet the animal gently.

“Talia, this is Winston. He won’t hurt you,” Will explained, glancing up at Hannibal and the girl.

Hannibal set the child down. She clung tightly to his hand, cautiously stepping closer to the dog. She leaned over him, her blonde hair falling over Winston. Talia carefully ran her hand over the dog, which licked happily in reply. She giggled before letting go of Hannibal’s hand to fully pet the dog, a rosy pink color appearing on her cheeks.

Will smiled back up at Hannibal. “Do you think she’s ready for another?” He asked. Hannibal nodded, so Will called out a small brown and white dog.

“This is Buster,” he told Talia. She laughed and tried to hold the canine.

Over time, all seven dogs were introduced to the little girl. Hannibal watched as Talia and Will smiled and played on the floor with the dogs jumping around them. Some of the dogs would bark, so Talia decided she’d get down on all fours and bark back at them.

This, of course, delighted Will. Hannibal glanced down at him as the man proceeded to do the same.

“Are you enjoying yourself, Will?” Hannibal asked, mild humor showing through his expression.

Will looked up, his face turning red. “Uh, yeah,” he replied with a smile. “You should try it, it’s not as weird as it looks.”

Hannibal raised an eyebrow and crouched down to get eye-level with Will. “That would be immature of me, and rather unsanitary. I’m sorry, but you could never get me down on that fur-covered floor,” he explained.

Will smirked in reply. “Is that a challenge?”

Without any other warning, Hannibal was taken completely by surprise and knocked off balance as Will leaped at him.

Hannibal fell on his sore back with a low grunt, and Will landed directly on top of him. The smaller man was surprisingly heavy for his thin stature, causing the breath to be knocked out of Hannibal’s chest.

Will pushed his upper body up and supported himself with outstretched arms, alleviating some of the pressure from Hannibal’s chest.

“Oh no, your suit has dog fur on it!” Will exclaimed sarcastically.

Hannibal rolled his eyes, but for some reason he wasn’t angry. Maybe it was the fact that Will was half-laying on him and grinning down at him with pure enjoyment shining in his blue eyes.

Hannibal couldn’t help but smile back up at Will. He was about to respond when he heard a happy squeal sound and then tiny feet running over to them. With one clumsy movement, Talia threw herself on top of Will.

Will, in response to the sudden weight, collapsed his arms and slammed down completely on Hannibal.

oOo

“Sorry,” Will muttered through clenched teeth, his face still smashed against Dr. Lecter’s. He attempted to push himself back up, but Talia sat happily on his upper back and he didn’t want to accidentally make her fall. He tried to roll off, but whenever he shifted he could feel Dr. Lecter tense up beneath him. He had to remind himself that the psychiatrist was still pretty injured and most likely in pain.

“That’s quite alright, Will,” Dr. Lecter replied. “Though I must say, your beard is a lot sharper than I’d imagined.”

Will laughed and gave up, settling back down on top of the doctor. “Yeah well your cheekbones reach a pretty high altitude, and they’re not exactly soft.”

Will felt Dr. Lecter’s chest shake in a light laugh. He was able to push his head up just enough to look down at the man. Even with his neck full extended, though, he was still only able to raise himself an inch off of Dr. Lecter’s face.

Will searched Dr. Lecter’s maroon eyes but all his empathy could detect was joy and fondness. The psychiatrist was one of the very few people that Will could not read. However, Will decided to act on what he could see, and without even thinking he nuzzled Dr. Lecter’s nose like he would to one of his dogs.

Will immediately reddened, but the doctor didn’t laugh or ridicule him. Dr. Lecter gave a true, genuine smile. The psychiatrist opened his mouth to either say something or do something….

Then Winston ran over. The dog immediately took advantage of Dr. Lecter’s vulnerability and began to lick his entire face.

Will felt the doctor squirm underneath him in a failed attempt to escape. Will weakly scolded the dog and tried to gently push it away, but for some reason Winston just wouldn’t listen. Will usually had all his dogs trained very well, he had no idea why the animal was disobeying.

Of course, Will knew Dr. Lecter smelled good. Hell, he was lying directly on top of the man. But Will could never have imagined how good the dog thought he tasted. Within a few seconds the other six dogs saw their opportunity and ran over, tongues eagerly exploring Dr. Lecter’s face.

“Will!” The doctor’s voice was muffled by all the animals.

Will tried to push the dogs away, but in all honesty, he didn’t try very hard. He thought this was hilarious. He stifled his laughter as best as he could, but Talia wasn’t as good at it.

She sat on Will’s neck and buried her hands in his hair, squealing in happiness. Her long blonde hair fell loosely over her rosy cheeks and her blue eyes were extraordinarily bright.

Will enjoyed the scene for a few more minutes before finally commanding all the dogs to get back.

Dr. Lecter desperately tried to wipe saliva off of his face with his sleeve.

“Sorry!” Will chirped lightly, smiling down at the doctor.

Dr. Lecter glared back, but Will could detect faint amusement hidden behind his dark eyes.

“Don’t apologize if you don’t mean it,” Dr. Lecter muttered. “I know you could have easily told those dogs to get off of me sooner, you just chose not to.”

Will shrugged and beckoned towards the little girl sitting on his back. “Talia was enjoying the show,” he argued.

Dr. Lecter gave him a doubtful scowl. “ _Only_ Talia?”

Will smirked and rolled his eyes. “Alright, fine. We both were quite amused by it,” he confessed.

Dr. Lecter looked up at Will and sighed. “Although I appreciate your honesty, it still doesn’t take the taste of dog saliva out of my mouth.”

Will leaned in closer, feeling bold for the first time in his life. “Maybe I can help with that,” he offered.

Dr. Lecter seemed surprised, but then he smiled. Will took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. He had just reached a high enough confidence level when the front door opened.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this will only be one or two more chapters...

“Will? Hannibal?!”

Hannibal twisted his neck to look innocently back up at Alana Bloom before turning to Will. The younger man sheepishly avoided eye contact with both of his guests. Hannibal shifted as best as he could, but he was still stuck underneath his patient.

“What are you…? Did I interrupt…? I should…” Alana spoke in quiet fragments. Honestly, Hannibal was almost disappointed with her lack of communication. He thought he’d taught her better.

“I-It’s nothing,” Will stuttered, pushing himself up off of Hannibal’s shoulders. Hannibal twitched when Will applied pressure to his gunshot, but he kept his mouth shut.

Once Will was no longer on top of him, Hannibal stood up and brushed his jacket off before turning to face Dr. Bloom. “I assure you, you simply just caught us in an unexpected position. You see, Will was tripped by one of his many dogs. I just happened to cushion his fall down,” Hannibal explained, the lies rolling off his tongue with ease. “Talia thought it was amusing and she jumped on Will’s back. You entered mere seconds after we’d hit the ground.”

Alana looked incredibly relieved, almost to the point where Hannibal wondered if she’d lied when she said she only had a ‘professional curiosity’ about Will. Then again, at times she seemed to be infatuated with Hannibal as well. Either way, she relaxed with Hannibal’s explanation.

“Why are you here anyway?” Will asked, failing to hide his irritation.

Luckily, Alana didn’t detect it. “I came by to feed your dogs like you’ve been asking me to the past couple days.”

Will realized his mistake and looked away.

“But I assume that’s why it’s been so hard for Jack to get ahold of you. He’s been trying your cell phone all day. I told him you were at Hannibal’s so he’s been trying that landline as well,” Alana continued.

“What does he want me for? Doesn’t he remember that I’m watching Talia?” Will asked.

At the sound of her name, Talia perked up and ran over, hiding herself behind Hannibal’s leg. Alana smiled at the girl, but Talia still ducked away.

“He knows you’re busy, but there’s been another murder and he thinks it’s the Chesapeake Ripper,” Alana explained.

Hannibal looked at his watch. _It’s about time they found the body_ , he thought.

Will groaned, causing Alana’s gaze to soften.

“Want me to tell him you’re unavailable? I doubt he’d take it very well, but I could try,” she suggested.

Will shook his head. “No, no it’s fine,” he muttered.

Hannibal stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Will’s shoulder. “I’d accompany you, but I’m afraid I must stay with Talia,” he stated.

Will just shrugged. “Don’t worry about it, I understand. I just wish I could be here with you guys.”

“I’m sorry, Will,” Alana said softly. “I told Jack that I didn’t want you out in the field, but you know how he is.”

Will nodded and crouched down to give Talia a hug goodbye. Alana watched him for a few moments, a gentle smile spreading across her lips, before turning back to Hannibal.

“Are you sure you’re alright on your own with Talia?” She asked.

“Of course,” Hannibal replied, taking the child’s hand.

Alana sighed. “Okay then. Will, are you ready to go? I might as well drive you, I was on my way to the crime scene before I stopped here-” she froze, squinting at Hannibal’s suit. “Hannibal, are you bleeding?” She asked.

Hannibal looked down and saw that there were three specks of blood forming on the shoulder of his suit. “Yes, it appears so,” he replied.

Will frowned. “That must’ve opened up when I landed on you,” he explained, ignoring the fact that Alana was still there.

Hannibal silently tried to plea Will to stop talking before the situation got any worse, but it was too late.

“How?” Alana persisted. “The fabric isn’t torn, so you couldn’t have cut him. He’s bleeding from underneath, and it must be pretty bad for it to soak through all of the layers he’s wearing.”

Hannibal could tell his patient was on the verge of telling Dr. Bloom everything, so he loudly cleared his throat to get Will’s attention. Once Will noticed, Hannibal locked eyes with him and shook his head at such a slight degree that only the empathetic man could detect it.

Will sighed in understanding. “I don’t know, I’m not thinking clearly. Don’t worry about it.”

Alana looked doubtfully back at Will. “Then how’d it happen?”

After a tense silence, Hannibal spoke up. “It doesn’t really matter, I’m perfectly fine. Jack is probably waiting for you two. I would advise that you leave.”

Alana huffed, but she couldn’t disagree. “We are talking about this later,” she warned.

Hannibal plastered a smile on his face and nodded towards the door. “Goodbye.”

oOo

“Yeah, that’s the Ripper,” Will concluded after walking into the room and hearing the report. “Which organ did you say was gone?”

Beverly poked at the corpse. “Just the heart.”

Will nodded and closed his eyes. The pendulum swung behind his eyelids and when he awoke he was alone in the room with the victim.

“He’s weak and filthy. Either he doesn’t take care of himself or I’ve held him hostage for at least a day. Not my usually offense, but entirely possible,” Will began.

“I put a small blade up to his neck, considering letting him bleed out relatively peacefully, but I change my mind. He doesn’t deserve it.”

“I plunge my blade into his sternum and drag it up through his chest cavity. I let him scream until his lungs fill up with blood, and it is music to my ears. I pull apart his chest in a brutal fashion that feels… _right_.”

“This kill isn’t part of my pattern, it’s not timed correctly. I didn’t expect this, and I didn’t need it. I have no purpose for all the meat, so I only take what the victim doesn’t deserve. I cut out his heart with surgical precision, leaving the man hollow of life. This is my design.”

Will blinked and the room was filled with FBI agents and forensic scientists once again. He looked over to Jack, who still seemed confused.

“So what? Why did he kill this man in particular? Even you said it’s not part of the Ripper’s pattern,” Jack questioned.

Will shook his head. “No, no it’s not. This isn’t like his usual kills, this is personal. It lacks the grace and beauty that is usually in his work. This is ruthless,” he explained.

“Yeah, you’ve told me before, he thinks of his victims as nothing more than pigs,” Jack stated.

“No, you’re not listening to me,” Will muttered. “I said this isn’t like the other pigs he’s killed. I would think the Ripper values this man much lower than a pig. This murder is passionate and angry. He had some kind of attachment with this victim, one way or another.”

Jack turned towards one of the other agents. “Go ID the victim immediately and cross reference it with anyone included in the other Chesapeake Ripper killings,” he ordered before turning back to Will. “You know, for such a passionate murder, why does the display look so… bland?” He asked.

Will squinted at the corpse, trying to read more of the evidence. It sat on the motel bed with no symbolic fashion or finesse. “He had to settle for what he could complete. He wanted more, but for some reason he couldn’t do it.”

“Was he feeling regret?” Jack suggested.

“No, not at all,” Will corrected. “This is physical, not emotional in the least. Perhaps the Ripper is sick, or has something that limits his bodily potential.”

Jack nodded in understanding before turning to walk out of the room with the other agents, leaving Will alone in his thoughts. Will studied the corpse, something strange rattling in his brain. The man looked so familiar…

“Will!”

Will jolted out of his thoughts and turned to face Jack.

“What?”

Jack stood in the doorway beckoning to the special agent. “I’m sure you’ll want to come with me, someone just confessed to the murder of Talia’s parents.”


	13. Chapter 13

Hannibal unconsciously held Talia’s hand tighter when he heard the news.

“Are you sure?” He asked through the phone.

“Yeah, the man flat-out confessed,” Jack replied, faint static resounding due to the poor service in Wolf Trap. “I’ll give you the details once you get here. Will is already on his way.”

Hannibal’s mind was still trying to manifest a possible explanation for what was happening. The murderer of Talia’s parents is _dead,_ Hannibal made sure of that. He had a heart in his freezer to prove it.

“Alright, I’ll be there shortly,” Hannibal stated at last.

“Make sure you bring all of Talia’s things,” Jack continued. “With her attacker behind bars, she’s safe to be put in a foster home of some kind. You and Will are relieved of the duty of taking care of her.”

Hannibal instinctively pulled the girl closer to himself. “Yes, of course,” he assured.

Jack sighed on the other end of the line. “I’m just glad this is all over. I need Will back on the field, and he can’t be there if he’s too busy caring for a child,” he explained. “I just need Dr. Bloom to conduct a quick psych evaluation and then we can get an official confession. So be here, Dr. Lecter.”

“Goodbye, Jack,” Hannibal finished before promptly hanging up the phone. He crouched down beside Talia. She smiled and ran around behind him and climbed up onto his back. Hannibal laughed and stood up, holding her legs so she wouldn’t slide off. Her arms wrapped around his neck and Hannibal heard her giggles in his ear.

“I know what to do, Talia,” Hannibal whispered back to her. “I promise I won’t let you go.”

By the time Hannibal got to BAU, Jack Crawford was already waiting on the other side of the 2-way mirror leading to the interrogation room.

“Hello Dr. Lecter,” Jack greeted.

Hannibal smiled and nodded to him. “Hello. So if I may ask, how exactly did you catch the man responsible?” He asked.

Jack looked through the mirror into the room, glaring at the man sitting inside. “Dumb luck. Some agents were visiting the acquaintances of Talia’s parents to ask about potential suspects and they came across this guy; Ripley Elwood. He wasn’t cooperating and one of my agents lost his temper. He blatantly asked if Elwood murdered the Miller parents and the guy confessed.

Hannibal frowned. “Why is there a need for a psychological evaluation then?” He asked.

“Just a precaution,” Jack replied. “His neighbors said that he seemed a little off, and I want to make sure we got the right guy. I’m just waiting for Dr. Bloom to arrive.”

Hannibal gave a small smile. “Alright, well I’m going to go wait outside for Will,” he explained.

“Okay, but don’t go too far, doctor,” Jack stated as Hannibal walked out.

However, instead of going to the main entrance, Hannibal waited at the end of the corridor. After about three minutes, Alana rounded the corner, almost colliding with him.  
“Oh, sorry Hannibal! I guess you’re here because of the break in Talia’s case, right?” She asked, her eyes flicking down to the little girl holding the doctor’s hand.

“Yes, I am,” Hannibal replied, wrapping his free arm around Alana’s waist. “Sorry, could you come with me? It will only be a moment. Talia needs her diaper changed, but Will bought a new brand and I can’t quite figure out the new tabs.”

Alana laughed. “I guess I could help you, but it’ll have to be quick. Jack’s expecting me.”

Hannibal smiled and led her into an empty supply room at the end of the corridor. “Perfect, thank you.”

He closed the door behind her and silently pulled a syringe out of his suit pocket. Before Alana could turn around to face him, he injected it into her neck. She was out within a few seconds, and wouldn’t wake up for at least a couple hours.

Hannibal pulled her body behind a stack of boxes so that no workers who happened to enter that room would be able to see her. He turned back to the door to see Talia on the verge of tears.

Hannibal picked her up and held her in his arms. “It’s okay, my dear, she’s just taking a short nap,” he explained as he walked out of the room.

“Dr. L- I mean, Hannibal!”

Hannibal turned to see Will waving him over. He walked to his patient, who immediately took Talia from his arms and held her tight to his chest. “Hello Will, where have you been? Didn’t you ride with Alana?” He asked.

Will nodded. “Uh, yeah. I stayed in the car for a little while. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye.”

Hannibal stepped closer and looked reassuringly at Will. “We share similar feelings towards this situation,” he stated.

Will looked briefly back up at Hannibal. “Did you see the guy who did it? I mean, was it really him? You saw him in the backyard before I…” Will’s voice trailed off. “I saw him as Garret Jacob Hobbs, so I don’t think I would recognize him.”

Hannibal tilted his head slightly in curiosity. “Do you want him to be the murderer? That could mean giving Talia up.”

Will shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’d rather her be safe than with me.”

Hannibal sighed and felt as if something were weighing down on his chest. “Yes, it was him,” he lied.

oOo

Will squeezed his eyes shut and held on to Talia tighter. He felt relieved, angry, sad and helpless all at once. He’d half-expected Dr. Lecter to say that but he wished it wasn’t true. He knew it was selfish of him, but he’d secretly wanted the killer to still be out there so that he could keep Talia in his life.

Will was silent for a long time before looking back at Dr. Lecter. “Is he officially convicted yet?”

Dr. Lecter shook his head. “We need Dr. Bloom to give a psych evaluation first.”

Will squinted. “Where’d she go? She came in before me, didn’t you see her?”

Dr. Lecter frowned. “I saw her walk in, but I stayed here to wait for you. Perhaps she is in the interrogation room with Jack?”

Will brushed past the doctor and walked down the hall, stopping at the room where Jack told him to meet. He walked inside, but he was met by only Jack.

“Where’s Alana?” He asked.

Jack’s face immediately changed from serious to mad. “Isn’t she with you?”

Will narrowed his eyes. “If she was with me, would I have asked you where she was?”

Jack stepped up to Will and loomed over him. “I am in no mood to deal with your remarks right now, Will.” He warned.

Will averted his gaze and shrunk back slightly. He heard Dr. Lecter walk in behind him and felt a steady hand resting on his shoulder.

“Dr. Lecter, can you give this eval? I don’t know where the hell Dr. Bloom is but I need this confession before the suspect changes his mind,” Jack ordered.

“I thought I wasn’t allowed to due to the fact that Talia is in my care. Would the court not assume my evaluation is biased?” Dr. Lecter replied.

Jack groaned. “This stays between you, me, and the paperwork. Confessions rarely go that deep in court, and I know you’re an honest psychiatrist. Can you do this for me?”

Will detected a small smile on the doctor’s face.

“Of course. I’m always reliable and trustworthy in my work, and I’d be glad to help.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter:)

Hannibal gave Will a long look, still doubting his next move. Hannibal knew he had complete power over the outcome of this case, he just wasn’t sure what to do with it.

He could claim the suspect is sane, and therefore guilty of the murders. However, that would mean Talia would be taken away. He could always declare the man insane and innocent, leaving Talia in his custody. However, that would most definitely result in a loss of Will’s peace of mind. Hannibal wanted Will on the verge of insanity, but he wanted to be the cause of it.

There could be no uncontrolled factors in his experiment, and having Will think the murderer is still out in the world would be difficult to control.

Hannibal sighed and made his way to the interrogation room, stopping before the door and turning to Jack. “If you do not mind, I must ask you to turn off the microphones.

Patient confidentiality is still in order, at least until the psych evaluation is due,” he explained, hoping Jack would buy it.

“Of course, doctor,” Jack agreed, flipping a switch on the desk. “Go on ahead.”

Hannibal nodded and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He sat down at the table across from the suspect and plastered a smile on his face. “Hello Mr. Elwood,” he greeted.

The thin man looked up meekly before shying away again. Hannibal cleared his throat before asking the first question of the verbal evaluation. “Do you acknowledge any of your psychosocial history?”

Ripley Elwood squinted at the table and appeared quite uncomfortable. “Y-yes…?”

Hannibal cocked his head to one side, still watching the suspect. “Would you mind explaining?” He asked.

Elwood was silent. His fingers wove together frantically on the table, held down by handcuffs.

Hannibal sighed and moved on. “Do you have any history of mental health treatment?”

Elwood nodded. “Yeah…”

Hannibal raised an eyebrow. “What clinic were you held at, and what were you being treated for?”

The suspect shrugged, and Hannibal found himself becoming curious. “Did you kill the Millers?” He asked after making sure the microphones were off.

Elwood reddened, his fingernails picking at the table. “Yes?”

Hannibal narrowed his eyes. “Did you kill Talia Miller?”

“Yeah…?”

Hannibal smiled, hypothesizing what condition the man suffered from. He pushed further, now doing so for his own entertainment. “Did you kill Jack Crawford, and Will Graham?”

“Yes…”

Hannibal nodded. “Then I think we’re done here.” He was almost positive he knew what was wrong with the man’s mental health. He assumed that Elwood had a severe form of Avoidant Personality Disorder. This led Hannibal to assume the suspect would agree to just about anything out of fear of rejection. His mind wasn’t capable of understanding his situation, he only cared about saying what the people around him wanted to hear.

Hannibal stood up and exited the room, easily putting on a concerned emotion. “I can get the official documentation for the evaluation to you tomorrow, but Ripley Elwood is certainly sane,” Hannibal lied. “I strongly recommend, however, that you are quick with receiving the confession. He is placed in a highly stressful situation and may be apt to agree to anything you may say.”

Jack nodded. “So what you’re saying is, ask if he killed them and leave? No more questions?”

Hannibal smiled at how easily Jack could be manipulated. “Precisely.”

Hannibal turned to the opposite side of the room to see Will pressed into the corner, holding Talia tightly in his arms. Hannibal’s smile dropped into a sincere frown when he saw how Talia had buried her face in Will’s shoulder.

Hannibal approached his patient and carefully put an arm around his shoulders. To Hannibal’s surprise, the profiler didn’t tense up under his touch. In fact, it almost felt like he leaned into it. Hannibal had about 45 seconds of peace before Jack walked over to them.

“I should take the girl now, there’s a woman outside waiting to bring her to a home,” Jack explained.

Hannibal then felt Will tense up. “N-no,” the agent murmured.

“Excuse me?” Jack asked, his voice raising.

Will looked up and made direct eye contact with his boss. “I don’t want to leave her.”

“Well that’s not how the world works, you can’t just drop everything for a girl you took care of for a week!” Jack yelled.

Hannibal kept his arm around Will, fully supporting his patient’s sudden defiance.

“Yes, I can. That’s exactly what I plan on doing, too,” Will replied calmly, still glaring at Jack.

“No, you can’t! I need you back on the field. If you don’t return, people are going to keep dying and it’s my responsibility!” Jack shouted.

“Exactly, it’s _your_ responsibility,” Will retorted. “Not mine.”

Jack stepped closer and loomed over the profiler. “Will. I’m taking Talia to a foster home, and I’ll even give you tomorrow off to work out your personal issues,” he ordered, lowering the intensity of his voice. The larger man then pried Talia from Will’s arms before turning his back to Will.

Talia immediately screamed out, tears forming in her eyes. She squirmed in Jack’s arms and kicked at his stomach.

Hannibal pulled Will closer to him, unsure whether or not he was doing it more for his patient’s comfort or his own.

It wasn’t until Talia let out a terrified, high pitched ‘ _No!_ ’ that Will instantly stiffened up and yelled out at Jack.

“Put. Her. _Down!_ ” Will shouted, and Hannibal could hear the painful rasping of the man’s throat.

Jack froze, but kept his back to the profiler. “Will-”

“Put her down,” Will demanded, barely lowering his voice.

Jack turned to face the agent, and Hannibal found himself subconsciously stepping protectively in front.

“Jack, I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if you released the girl,” Hannibal explained, his voice softer but clearly threatening.

“Dr. Lecter, you of all people should understand that Will’s care for Talia was completely occupational. This was a small task that I assigned him, and now he’s ready to go back to his real job,” Jack argued.

“I quit.”

oOo

Will could feel all the attention turn to him once he declared his resignation. The heat of their stares burned into his skin, but he held his ground.

Dr. Lecter spoke first. “I think what Will means is that he’s willing to risk his work in return for a final goodbye to the girl,” he tried to explain.

Will narrowed his eyes. “No, I _mean_ -”

“Will.”

Dr. Lecter was directly in front of him within a matter of seconds, holding on to his shoulders.

“I believe you are thinking irrationally due to your heightened emotions right now. Just let me guide us out of this argument and you can rethink your decision later,” Dr. Lecter whispered, just loud enough for Will to hear.

Will huffed, but he nodded.

“Alright then,” Dr. Lecter spoke up so that Jack could hear. “I think we need one more moment with Talia before she leaves.” The psychiatrist turned to Jack, his glare clearly stating that this wasn’t up for debate.

Jack sighed, clearly unhappy. “Fine. I’ll be in the hallway for five minutes, then I’m coming back in and leaving with the girl.”

Will watched his psychiatrist give a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. Will didn’t even bother pretending. He shot Jack an angry snarl until the man put Talia down. The girl immediately ran over to him and Dr. Lecter and hid behind them.

Jack paused in the room for a few more moments in silence before exiting, his jaw clenched in irritation.

Will turned to face Dr. Lecter, taking a deep breath before stepping closer and closing most of the space between them. His hand reached down and pulled Talia in tighter, while maintaining eye contact with his psychiatrist.

Will could feel his nerves and fevered heat returning, but that didn’t matter right now. He heard hooves stomping in the back of his head, but he forced all hallucinations away. He felt his other hand twitching in anger, pain, and anticipation.

“Hannibal, I can’t let her go,” Will mumbled, feeling the lost words roll off his tongue. “I don’t want to lose this, this family we have. I don’t want to lose her, because then I’ll lose you too. You’ve kept me sane and stable and you’re the only person that doesn’t talk to me like they’re walking on glass.”

Dr. Lecter smiled and reached out to rest his hand against the side of Will’s face, using his thumb to caress his cheek. “I know, Will. We did what we could, but we have to trust that-”

Will silenced the doctor by pressing his lips to the other man’s mouth. Dr. Lecter didn’t pull away, so Will allowed himself to close what was left of the gap between them. He felt his demons dissipate into the air, the crime scenes and stags no longer poisoning his thoughts. The only thing that kept him grounded was the doctor pushed against him and the little girl holding his hand beside him.

After a few moments, Dr. Lecter pulled away and Will felt all the darkness swarm back into his mind. He was shaking, but he managed to look up and meet the doctor’s gaze.

“Alright, Will. I understand,” Dr. Lecter murmured before stepping back just in time for Jack to open the door and barge back inside.

“Okay we’re done here, let’s go,” Jack ordered, picking up Talia and making his way towards the exit. Talia screamed again, reaching out to grasp empty air as she was carried farther away from Dr. Lecter and Will.

“Wait, Jack.”

Jack turned to face Dr. Lecter, eyes narrowed in irritation. “What now?”

Will watched in awe as the psychiatrist walked up to Jack with complete confidence. “I believe Will and I have decided to obtain full custody of Talia,” Dr. Lecter explained.

Jack gave a short laugh before realizing that the doctor wasn’t kidding. He frowned, his anger evident. “Really, doctor? You and Will want to adopt the girl?”

Dr. Lecter didn’t flinch. “I certainly do,” he replied before turning back towards his patient. “Will?”

Will walked over and grabbed Dr. Lecter’s hand in his own. “I’d love to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this, the support was absolutely amazing. Sorry for the super cheesy, kinda ooc ending, but I didn’t know how else to finish this. I’m always up for a collaboration fic with any of you guys, you can always message me at citizen-of-gotham.tumblr.com. Thanks for everything!


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